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+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75342 ***
+
+
+[Illustration: “Stop her, somebody! We will all be drowned!” See page
+74.]
+
+
+
+
+  Tour of the Zero Club
+  OR
+  Adventures Amid Ice and Snow
+
+  BY
+  CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL
+
+  AUTHOR OF
+  “Neka, the Boy Conjuror,” “For the Liberty of Texas,”
+  “Boys of the Fort,” etc.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  NEW YORK AND LONDON
+  STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS
+
+
+
+
+  Copyright, 1902
+  By STREET & SMITH
+
+  Tour of the Zero Club
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER.                            PAGE.
+
+       I--On the Toboggan-Slide           9
+
+      II--Lost or Won?                   16
+
+     III--The Races                      24
+
+      IV--A Moment of Peril              31
+
+       V--Getting Ready to Start         39
+
+      VI--Last Ride on the Buster        47
+
+     VII--By a Hair’s Breadth            53
+
+    VIII--The Stolen Iceboat             60
+
+      IX--The Tour Begins                66
+
+       X--Close Quarters                 74
+
+      XI--A Lucky Shot                   81
+
+     XII--Jack Becomes Lost              88
+
+    XIII--Jack’s Experience              95
+
+     XIV--A Fight With Reptiles         102
+
+      XV--Lost in the Snow              109
+
+     XVI--Settling Down in Camp         115
+
+    XVII--Hunting for Food              122
+
+   XVIII--Chased by Wolves              128
+
+     XIX--The Last of the Wolves        135
+
+      XX--What Could It Have Been?      142
+
+     XXI--Deer Hunting                  148
+
+    XXII--Track of the Marauders        155
+
+   XXIII--The Cottage in the Woods      162
+
+    XXIV--Harry’s Prize                 169
+
+     XXV--A Friend in Need              175
+
+    XXVI--The Unsuccessful Pursuit      182
+
+   XXVII--A Heavy Storm                 189
+
+  XXVIII--Fighting the Flames           196
+
+    XXIX--Blue Times in Camp            203
+
+     XXX--Found Starving                209
+
+    XXXI--Immediate Wants Supplied      216
+
+   XXXII--Last of the Wildcat           222
+
+  XXXIII--The Snow Siege Ended          228
+
+   XXXIV--A Lively Time                 235
+
+    XXXV--At the Country Dance          240
+
+   XXXVI--The Black Bear                246
+
+  XXXVII--End of the Tour               253
+
+
+
+
+TOUR OF THE ZERO CLUB.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+ON THE TOBOGGAN-SLIDE.
+
+
+“All ready?”
+
+“All ready!”
+
+“Then here we go! Hold on, everybody, unless you want to be sent flying
+when we reach the curve!”
+
+As Harry Webb uttered the last words he gave his long toboggan, the
+_Buster_, a final shove, and hopped on behind his three companions, and
+away they started on the trip down Doublehead Hill.
+
+It was a stirring scene. The upper and lower hills, although light in
+the full moon, were made doubly bright by the scores of bonfires and
+pine torches which blazed on either side of the narrow toboggan-slide.
+
+Scores of boys and girls were out, and not a few ladies and gentlemen
+also, and all looked warm and happy in their gayly-colored toboggan
+suits.
+
+The long, low sleds were out by the dozens, and Jack Bascoe, who was
+steering the _Buster_ as best he could, had a difficult time of it,
+keeping clear of dangerous collisions.
+
+“By jingo! but this is fine!” cried Andy Bascoe, Jack’s younger
+brother. “Who would want better sport than this?”
+
+“You’re right, it’s fine!” returned Boxy Woodruff, the most
+light-hearted boy in Rudskill. “A fellow would like to keep sailing
+like this forever, eh? Just spread out your arms and--wow!”
+
+Boxy’s imitation of flying came to a sudden stop as the toboggan shot
+over a little hill and came down with a thump on the other side. He
+was thrown a bit to one side, and only saved himself by grasping Jack
+Bascoe around the middle with both arms.
+
+“Hold on, Boxy!” cried Jack, a little alarmed.
+
+“That’s what I’m doing,” returned Boxy.
+
+“I feel you,” said Jack, grimly. “But don’t pull me off, please. I’ve
+got to keep my eyes open for the other toboggans and sleds, you know.”
+
+“I’m all right now, and I’ll do my flying act some other time,”
+returned Boxy.
+
+“Here comes the _Whistler_!” cried Harry. “We ought to be able to beat
+Pete Sully’s toboggan.”
+
+“Of course!” added Andy.
+
+“Everybody push!” put in Boxy, in a dry way that made them all laugh.
+“Maybe you would like me to get off and help pull,” he added, in mock
+seriousness.
+
+As they were going at a speed little less than a mile a minute down the
+long hill, the others laughed louder than ever.
+
+The _Whistler_, with Pete Sully, the bully of the town, and several of
+his chums, was creeping up by their side. It was a brand-new toboggan,
+and slid along as though greased.
+
+“You fellows ain’t in it any more!” shouted Sully to Harry, as he came
+within speaking distance. “Here’s where we leave you away behind!”
+
+“You’ve got more weight!” returned Harry. “Give me the same weight, and
+the _Buster_ will walk away from you with ease.”
+
+“I’ll bet you a dollar you can’t!” shouted Sully.
+
+“I haven’t got a dollar to bet, Pete,” replied Harry, and he told the
+truth, for, although he owned the _Buster_, Harry Webb was poor, and
+had not known what it was to own a dollar for several years, ever since
+his father had lost his money in an unfortunate real estate speculation.
+
+“Oh, you’re afraid to bet,” cried Sully, mockingly. “Good-by, slow
+boots!”
+
+“I’ll bet my pocket-knife against yours we can beat you!” said Harry,
+considerably nettled by Sully’s taunts. “We will take the same number
+aboard and try our skill.”
+
+“Done!” yelled Sully, for he was now several rods ahead.
+
+Down the last of the second hill and along the level road shot the
+_Buster_, and presently came to a standstill just where the Rudskill
+turnpike branched off across the railroad tracks. The _Whistler_ had
+gone on a couple of hundred feet farther up the side of the tracks.
+
+“Told you we’d beat you!” exclaimed Pete Sully, as he and his
+chums joined Harry and his friends. “You had better not bet your
+pocket-knife unless you want to lose it.”
+
+“I am not afraid to try against you, Sully, and perhaps it will be you
+who will lose his pocket-knife.”
+
+“Humph!” sneered Sully. “No fear. And if I did, I guess I could buy
+another easy enough, even if somebody else couldn’t.”
+
+This was a direct shot at Harry’s poverty, and made the ears of the
+poor boy tingle, while his handsome face flushed.
+
+“Come on and try your skill and quit your talking,” exclaimed Jack
+Bascoe, rather sharply, and he faced Sully as he spoke. “There is no
+use in wasting time here.”
+
+Had it been any one else than Jack Bascoe who had spoken thus
+suggestively to him, Pete Sully might have picked a quarrel then and
+there. He was a very overbearing boy, and never allowed a chance of
+whipping some other boy go by him.
+
+But the truth of the matter was, that he had once run up against Jack’s
+fist in a most surprising fashion. Blood had flowed freely, and from
+that time on the bully of Rudskill knew there were two boys in the town
+he dare not molest, Jack and his younger brother, Andy.
+
+So, muttering something under his breath which Harry and his friends
+could not hear, Sully and his cohorts began to drag their toboggan
+up the long hillside. They were followed by the other boys, with the
+_Buster_. The walk was a tedious one, especially so to the two sides
+that wished to race each other.
+
+“Whom shall we get to add weight?” asked Harry, as they at last gained
+the starting-place. “I don’t see any of our crowd here; do you?”
+
+“I don’t,” returned Jack.
+
+“What’s the matter with Pickles Johnsing?” put in Boxy. “He’s got
+enough weight for two.”
+
+Pickles Johnsing was a stout, round-faced colored boy, with big red
+lips, and teeth which reminded one very forcibly of double-blank
+dominoes set in twin rows. He was a very willing and decent sort of a
+young darky, and had many friends in the little river town in which my
+story for the present is located.
+
+“He’ll do first-rate,” said Harry. “Hello, Pickles!” he shouted.
+
+“Hullo, dar, Harry!” returned the colored boy. “Got yo’ tobog out
+ag’in, I see.”
+
+“Yes, Pickles, and we want you to ride down with us this trip. Put your
+bread-shovel out of the way.”
+
+“T’anks, Harry, I’se like to ride down on de _Buster_ fust-rate,”
+grinned Pickles. “Wot yo’ gwine ter do, race Pete Sully?”
+
+“Yes, Pickles, and we must beat him,” replied Andy. “You know just how
+to help us along.”
+
+“Humph! if he ain’t going to take that coon on the trip!” sneered Pete
+Sully.
+
+“You ain’t racing niggers, are you, Pete?” questioned one of his
+followers.
+
+“I don’t know as I am,” returned Pete Sully, slowly.
+
+He walked over to where Harry sat on his toboggan.
+
+“I expected to race white fellows,” he remarked, sourly.
+
+“Pickles is all right,” said Jack Bascoe. “He’s the dark horse to win.
+If you are going to race, get ready, for Harry isn’t going to wait all
+night for you.”
+
+“Where’s that knife!” demanded Sully, thus changing the subject.
+
+“Here it is,” replied Harry, producing it. “Four blades, and every one
+in good condition. Where is yours?”
+
+“It’s just as good as that,” retorted Sully, bringing forth his
+pocket-knife. “Four blades and a corkscrew.”
+
+“Who’s going to hold them as stakes?” questioned Bill Dixon, Sully’s
+most intimate chum.
+
+The matter was talked over for several minutes, and finally a gentleman
+who had come to the hill to look at the sport agreed to become
+stakeholder.
+
+Before the matter was decided, however, Sully did a good deal of
+whispering to Bill Dixon, who immediately left the crowd, which had
+moved over to the largest of the nearby campfires.
+
+At last all was in readiness for the start. Hearing of the race, many
+on the course left their toboggans and sleds to witness the contest.
+
+“Now, remember, the first to reach the railroad track switch wins the
+race,” shouted the stakeholder. “Are you ready?”
+
+“We are,” said Sully.
+
+“Then--go!”
+
+With a great push, Sully sent the _Whistler_ on the downward course
+in fine style. Harry likewise gave the _Buster_ a good shove, and his
+toboggan also started. But he was a rod behind the other sled in the
+fraction of a second.
+
+“Something is dragging under us!” cried Andy, quickly. “I can feel it
+plainly.”
+
+“What can it be?” exclaimed Harry, in alarm. “Anybody’s clothing
+caught?”
+
+“My clo’ all hunky,” replied Pickles. “Dat feels like it was a rope
+under dar. Did yo’ tie a rope to de tobog, Harry?”
+
+“I took the rope off and left it with Mr. Bruley when we started,”
+returned the owner of the _Buster_. “It’s no use,” he groaned. “They’ll
+reach the tracks before we are half-way down!”
+
+In the meanwhile Boxy Woodruff was feeling along the side of the
+toboggan. It was not long before his hand came in contact with an end
+of wash-line.
+
+“Here it is, tied around the toboggan!” he cried. “I’ll bet this is
+some of Pete Sully’s underhanded work!”
+
+“Yank it loose, can’t you?” exclaimed Harry, anxiously. “Cut it or
+break it--something.”
+
+Boxy pulled with all of his strength, and the wash-line, which,
+luckily, was old and rotten, parted. An instant later it was clear of
+the toboggan bottom, and streaming along behind like the thin tail of a
+kite.
+
+Freed from this hindrance, the _Buster_ shot forward on its course.
+Like a comet it passed over the brow of the second hill, with the
+_Whistler_ over a hundred feet ahead. Could they regain the ground they
+had lost?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+LOST OR WON?
+
+
+It was one thing for the boys on the _Buster_ to wish to range
+alongside of the _Whistler_ again, but it was quite a different thing
+to do it.
+
+Both toboggans were rushing along with furious speed, and now the end
+of the course was close at hand.
+
+“Sit jess a little moah to de front,” was Pickles’ suggestion, and it
+was immediately acted upon.
+
+“Didn’t I tell you you wasn’t in it?” shouted Pete Sully, derisively.
+
+“There isn’t a toboggan around Rudskill can beat the _Whistler_!” put
+in Bill Dixon.
+
+On and on went the two toboggans. The last little rise was passed and
+the speed began to slacken.
+
+Suddenly the _Whistler_ struck a snag--the dead limb of a tree, which
+was half-hidden in the snow.
+
+It quickly swerved out of its course, directly in the path of the
+oncoming _Buster_.
+
+“Get out of the way!” shouted Jack Bascoe, who was, as usual, in the
+front. “Turn her around, Sully!”
+
+“Don’t run into us!” shrieked several on board of the _Whistler_. “To
+the right! To the right!”
+
+Those on the _Buster_ tried to do as advised, not only for the sake of
+their rivals, but also to save themselves. But it was too late to do
+much. The _Buster_ swung around a trifle, and then came up sideways
+with a bang, and out into the snow flew every one of the boys on both
+toboggans.
+
+Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, although several faces and
+hands were scratched, and Pickles got a bruise in the shin, his one
+weak spot. All were soon on their feet, and the toboggans were dragged
+to one side, out of the way of any that might be following.
+
+“What did you mean by running into us?” demanded Pete Sully, hotly, as
+he stalked up to Harry.
+
+“What could we do when you blocked up the course?” retorted the owner
+of the _Buster_.
+
+“We didn’t block up the course!”
+
+“You certainly did,” interposed Jack. “You ought to be thankful that we
+didn’t run right over you.”
+
+“It wasn’t fair!”
+
+“It was fair,” said Harry. “But I’ll tell you what was not fair--tying
+that wash-line under my toboggan, and that’s just what one of your
+crowd did.”
+
+“What’s that?” growled Bill Dixon. “We didn’t touch your confounded
+bread-shovel.”
+
+“Some one tied that rope on,” said Andy, picking up the line in
+question. “It smells like your rope, Longman,” he went on, to a boy
+whose father was the captain of a schooner on the river. “It’s a
+regular tarred line.”
+
+“See here, because you lost the race, you needn’t claim a foul!”
+growled Sully, wrathfully. “You may think----”
+
+“Lose the race!” came in a chorus from those who had rode upon the
+_Buster_.
+
+“We lost no race!” added Jack, vigorously.
+
+“Yes, you did.”
+
+“I certainly don’t see it.”
+
+“You ran into us, and that gives us the race,” said Bill Dixon.
+
+“Not by a jugful,” exclaimed Harry. “We were on the left, where we
+belonged. Had you kept to the right----”
+
+“You’d have been all right,” finished Boxy. “Come on up the hill and
+try it over again.”
+
+“I won’t do it,” returned Sully, sourly. “It’s my race.”
+
+“He won’t race because we’ve found out about that rope,” said Harry,
+growing angry. “I’m going to tell the crowd about it as soon as we get
+to the top of the hill.”
+
+“Do you mean to say that I placed that rope under your toboggan?”
+blustered Sully, stepping up to him with clinched fists.
+
+“One of your crowd did,” returned Harry. “It was put there for the sole
+purpose of keeping us back.”
+
+“If you say I put it there, I’ll hammer you!”
+
+“You heard what I said. I am not prepared to say more--just now. You
+may hear from me later.”
+
+Thus talking, the two crowds made their way to the top of the hill.
+Here they found an excited group of boys waiting for them.
+
+“Did the _Whistler_ win?” cried several.
+
+“Certainly we won!” replied Sully.
+
+“It was no race,” explained Jack. “They struck a snag, and we ran into
+them while they were on our side of the course.”
+
+“Somebody said that Dixon boy tied a rope under your toboggan,”
+remarked the gentleman who held the two pocket-knives, to Harry. “Did
+you find anything wrong?”
+
+“We did!” cried the boy. “Here is the rope. Who saw Dixon do it?”
+
+The question was passed around, and it finally leaked out that three
+boys in the crowd had seen the sneaking action performed. Dixon had
+taken the rope from Longman’s sled, and this Longman was finally forced
+to admit.
+
+“No race,” said the stakeholder, promptly. “I will give both boys their
+pocket-knives. Dixon, you ought to be ruled off the slide,” he added to
+the bully’s toady.
+
+“I don’t care, I claim that race,” said Sully, loudly. “I don’t care a
+rap about the pocket-knife. It’s not half as good as my own.”
+
+Harry wanted to try again, but the bully declined, saying it was
+getting late, and he was expected home. In reality, Sully was afraid to
+race fairly.
+
+“We’ll try our good points at the skating races day after to-morrow,”
+he said to Harry. “You mustn’t forget that I am in the five-mile race
+against you and Jack Bascoe, and Milne and the rest.”
+
+“I have a good memory,” returned Harry, pointedly. “And you can rest
+assured that we’ll look out for any more rope tricks,” and with this
+parting shot he walked off with his toboggan, accompanied by Jack and
+the others.
+
+“Dat dere Sully makes me mos’ drefful sick,” said Pickles. “He t’inks
+de hull town must bow to him. It would be de best t’ing in de world if
+da would jess git togedder and run him off de co’s.”
+
+“One of us must beat him in that race,” said Jack, decidedly. “If he
+wins, he won’t stop crowing for a month.”
+
+“You can do it, Jack,” said Andy, who had great confidence in his older
+brother’s abilities. “He hasn’t near the wind you have.”
+
+“That may be, but he’s got everlastingly long legs, Andy; don’t forget
+that.”
+
+“I’ll bank on Harry,” put in Boxy, who was Harry’s most intimate
+friend, having lived next door to him for years. “His legs are pretty
+long, and his wind is right there every time.”
+
+“Well, I don’t care if I do lose, if Harry wins,” said Jack. “So long
+as we keep the first prize away from the Sully crowd.”
+
+“I’m going to do my best to win that race,” put in Harry. “Not only for
+the honor, but because I want the money.”
+
+“Has Mr. Grimes decided to put up a purse?” asked Jack, quickly.
+
+“He told me he would put up a gold medal, but if any one wanted it,
+he would buy the medal back for fifteen dollars. And if I had fifteen
+dollars I wouldn’t have to ask father for a cent of spending money for
+a year.”
+
+“And you could go on that tour with us, couldn’t you?” put in Boxy,
+quickly. “That is, if we go.”
+
+“I suppose I could,” returned Harry, thoughtfully.
+
+The idea of a winter tour had been in the minds of this crowd of boys
+for several weeks. Rudskill was situated upon the banks of a well-known
+river in New York State, and their idea was to build an iceboat, and
+cruise up the river a distance of some forty miles, and then start on a
+trip among the mountains to a sheet of water, which I shall call Rock
+Island Lake. Once on the lake, they would cross it on skates, and then
+locate a winter camp in the heart of the mountains on the western side,
+where they could spend several weeks in hunting and fishing and other
+winter sports.
+
+The four boys had already formed themselves into an organization which
+they called the Zero Club--certainly a most appropriate name for winter
+use. Jack Bascoe was the president, and also general director of the
+club, which held weekly meetings regularly in the harness-room of Mr.
+Bascoe’s barn.
+
+It was Andy who had first proposed this trip, and he had found that
+idea taken up with avidity. A fire in the town schoolhouse had closed
+that institution six weeks for repairs, and so the time could be taken
+without losing any part of the school session.
+
+On the following day the four boys gathered together on the river,
+which, during the past ten days of severe cold, had frozen completely
+over, to practice for the coming races, which were to be three in
+number.
+
+The races were gotten up by a Mr. Grimes, a wealthy and eccentric
+resident of the town, who personally offered the prizes, which were six
+in number, a first and second for each race.
+
+As the boys skated around they talked over the matter of leaving home
+for a time, and also of the expense of such a trip.
+
+“I have reckoned it all out,” said Andy. “We can squeeze through on
+fifty dollars.”
+
+“That is, if we get blankets and such stuff from home,” said Boxy.
+
+“Certainly. Fifty dollars will only cover the cost of necessary
+provisions, ammunition and the like. We must furnish our own blankets,
+clothing, guns, snowshoes, and such things.”
+
+“Well, that is twelve dollars and a half each,” said Harry.
+
+“I can raise that,” meditated Boxy. “I’ve saved eight dollars, and I’ll
+get father to allow me something on account of my birthday in February
+next.”
+
+The others laughed at this.
+
+“Drawing on a birthday nearly three months off!” remarked Jack. “Your
+father will want a discount at that rate.”
+
+“I’ve got the money, and more,” put in Andy. “And I know Jack has it,
+too.”
+
+“I haven’t but fifty cents,” said Harry, with a light laugh to cover up
+his real feelings. “So, you see, it’s race or nothing with me.”
+
+“I’ve a good mind to withdraw,” suggested Jack.
+
+“Not for the world, Jack. You must stick, and win it--if you can.”
+
+“But I would rather have you win it,” persisted the president and
+general manager of the Zero Club.
+
+“No, I won’t have it that way. Promise me you’ll try for the medal, and
+will do your best to win it.”
+
+Jack demurred, but Harry would not listen, so finally he agreed to do
+as his friend wished.
+
+The ice on the river was as smooth as glass, and the promises for some
+great races were very encouraging.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE RACES.
+
+
+The following day dawned clear and bright. The races were to come off
+at ten, half-past ten and eleven o’clock, and long before this time the
+river in front of the town was alive with skaters.
+
+Harry had some work to do at home, and did not appear until a little
+before ten. He found his friends anxiously awaiting him.
+
+“Thought you had given it up,” said Boxy. “I know you are fairly aching
+to let Pete Sully win that five-miler.”
+
+“He won’t win it unless Jack and I drop out,” returned Harry.
+
+“That’s so,” put in Jack Bascoe. “We’ll do our best to leave ’em all
+behind, eh, Harry?”
+
+The Zero Club gathered at one side of the river, while Pete Sully and
+his crowd gathered at the other. Milne, also a good skater, glided here
+and there by himself. He was a good deal of a dude, and on this account
+had but few friends among the young people of Rudskill.
+
+Sully was bragging about what he was going to do, and talked so loudly
+that he disgusted many who would otherwise have taken an interest in
+his endeavors. He was willing to bet all in his pockets--which was not
+much--that he would easily outdistance those who were pitted against
+him.
+
+The first race, one of half-a-mile dash, was presently called, and six
+boys ranged up in line at the starting point. Boxy was in the crowd,
+he preferring this sort of contest to one where staying powers were
+required.
+
+The boys started off like a flash at the signal, a loud shouting from
+the crowd following them.
+
+The short race was over almost before the spectators had ceased to
+yell. A fellow named Tory had won, with Boxy a close second.
+
+“Good for you, Boxy!” cried Jack. “If I do as well I shall be
+satisfied.”
+
+“It’s a silver medal for my chest,” replied Boxy, proudly. “And that’s
+better than a leather one.”
+
+After a short intermission, the second race, two miles, straightaway,
+was called. Andy was in this, and also Bill Dixon and four others.
+
+“Look out for Dixon,” whispered Jack to his brother. “He may try to
+trick you as he did the crowd on the toboggan.”
+
+“I’ll be on my guard,” responded Andy.
+
+When the start was made, Andy did not catch his stroke as quickly as
+did the others, and as a consequence they gained several yards on him.
+
+“Go in, Andy!” cried Harry. “You can do it if you try!”
+
+“He can’t get near Dixon!” sneered Pete Sully. “Look, he’s away behind
+already!”
+
+“You must do it, Andy!” cried Harry, paying no attention to the bully’s
+words. “Strike out faster!”
+
+Encouraged by Harry’s words, and also by the calling of his brother and
+Boxy, Andy did really make an extra effort, and before half a mile was
+covered passed the last two fellows in the race, thus becoming fourth.
+
+Bill Dixon was in the lead, and for a while it looked as if he would
+stay there. He kept crawling away from all of the others, and at length
+had left them pretty much behind.
+
+But now Andy showed of what metal he was made. With a spurt he swept by
+the two ahead of him, and dashed on close at Bill Dixon’s heels.
+
+“What did I tell you!” cried Harry. “Go in, Andy, and win!”
+
+Dixon heard the cry, and looked over his shoulder. There was yet almost
+a half mile to skate, and he was nearly winded. He felt that Andy would
+pass him, try his best to keep up the pace.
+
+He slowed up, and put out one foot, intending thereby to trip Andy up.
+But the young contestant saw it just in time, and, with a nimble leap,
+he cleared the obstruction, and went sailing on, winner by ten yards,
+while Dixon came in third, the boy behind Andy managing to come up
+before Dixon could regain his lost headway.
+
+Andy would have reported Dixon for his evil intention; but, as he had
+won the race, he said nothing; still, the look he gave the bully’s
+toady made that individual sneak out of sight in short order.
+
+And now it was time for the five-mile race, the greatest of the day.
+It must be confessed that both Harry’s heart and Jack’s beat rapidly as
+they took their places in line with Sully and Milne.
+
+The race was to be two and a half miles up the river, and the same
+distance back. A skater with a big white flag marked the turning point.
+
+“Are you all ready boys?” questioned old Mr. Grimes, who conducted the
+races personally. “Every skate in good order and properly fastened on?”
+
+“Yes, sir,” came first from one and then another.
+
+“Then, go! And good luck go with you!”
+
+They were off, side by side, not a single one a foot ahead or behind.
+It was undoubtedly the best start of the day.
+
+“Now show ’em what you can do, Sully!”
+
+“Shake ’em up, Milne!”
+
+“Strike out faster, Harry!”
+
+“There goes Jack Bascoe ahead!”
+
+The last cry proved true. Jack had made a splurge, and was now nearly a
+yard ahead of the other three, who, at the end of the first mile, were
+still closely bunched.
+
+Then Milne put on steam and went ahead for fully a mile, with Jack
+behind him, and Harry and Sully side by side in the rear. But the dude
+of the town could not keep up the pressure, and suddenly, long before
+the turning point was reached, he collapsed and dropped behind and out
+of the race entirely.
+
+“Only three now!”
+
+“And Jack Bascoe still in the lead!”
+
+“Sully is crawling up to him!”
+
+It was true. Pete Sully’s long legs were working with wonderful
+rapidity, and he was slowly forging ahead of Harry, despite the other’s
+apparent best efforts to keep up.
+
+“Jack’s going to win that race!” cried Andy, with pardonable pride.
+
+“It certainly looks so,” returned Boxy. “Well, he deserves it, although
+I kind of hoped Harry would get that prize and be able to turn it into
+money.”
+
+“Jack said he would lend Harry the money if he won the medal,” said
+Andy. “He said it just before they started.”
+
+“Good for Jack,” returned Boxy. “In that case I certainly don’t
+begrudge him the token.”
+
+On and on went the skaters, until the turning point was reached, and
+Jack shot around it in as small a curve as he could make without
+slipping, and directly on his heels followed Sully.
+
+But the bully and Jack were both becoming winded, and they could not
+keep up the pace. Harry, on the contrary, had got his second wind, and
+now he put on a spurt that brought him up yard by yard to the others.
+
+“Harry Webb is gaining on them!”
+
+“Sully is losing ground on Bascoe!”
+
+“Harry is up to Sully!”
+
+“What’s the matter with Jack? Is he out of wind?”
+
+“He must be. See! see! Harry is right on Jack’s heels!”
+
+“Harry has passed them all!” yelled Boxy, in wild delight. “Didn’t I
+tell you he would do it?”
+
+“They’ve got half a mile to go yet!”
+
+“Never mind, he’s getting farther ahead each minute!”
+
+Boxy was right. Harry was now putting forth every effort. He had just
+forged ahead of Jack, and it certainly looked as if he would come in a
+winner.
+
+But Jack was picking up. He was determined to beat Sully, even if he
+could not gain on his friend.
+
+A couple of rods were passed, and Harry was almost sure of winning,
+when suddenly a wild, girlish cry rang out across the river.
+
+Harry looked to his left and saw a sight that thrilled him with horror.
+
+Half-way between himself and the shore was a long, narrow spot where
+the ice was very thin. A girl, scarcely ten years of age, had ventured
+on this ice, and broken through, and was now struggling madly to save
+herself from drowning.
+
+Evidently all the other people on the river were so interested in the
+race that they had not seen the accident nor heard her cries for aid.
+
+“My gracious!” burst from Harry’s lips, and then, forgetting all about
+the race, and the prize he wished so much to win, he swept from the
+straight course in a semi-circle toward the hapless victim.
+
+Thinking something had gone wrong, perhaps, with Harry’s skates, Jack
+kept on, determined to win the medal from Sully, if he possibly could.
+Sully saw what the real trouble was, but, thoroughly selfish, kept on,
+hoping to win by accident if not otherwise.
+
+“Help me!” screamed the girl, as she saw Harry approaching. “Help me,
+Harry Webb!”
+
+“It’s Boxy’s sister, as sure as I live!” cried the boy, in horror.
+“Keep up, Minnie, and I’ll save you! Catch hold of the ice, and don’t
+let the current carry you under!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A MOMENT OF PERIL.
+
+
+It was a thrilling moment in Harry Webb’s life when he saw his chum’s
+sister in her extremely perilous situation.
+
+He well understood how hard it was to keep up one’s courage in that
+freezing cold water, with the strong current trying its best to drag
+one under the ice.
+
+“Don’t let go, Minnie!” he shouted, and just then his own voice sounded
+strange to him. “Hold fast! I’ll be there in another minute!”
+
+With powerful strokes he swept nearer and nearer. The somewhat thin ice
+bent and cracked beneath his weight, but to this he paid scant heed.
+
+In his pocket, Harry had a couple of skate-straps he had brought along
+in case anything should happen to his clamp skates. These straps he now
+buckled together, and wound one end around his hand.
+
+Getting as close to the hole as he dared, he threw out the end of the
+straps.
+
+“Catch the buckle, Minnie!” he cried. “Can you reach it, or shall I
+come closer?”
+
+The poor girl in the water tried to speak, but the words would not
+come, so benumbed and cold was she.
+
+But she put out one hand convulsively, and caught the strap just above
+the buckle.
+
+“Now put the other hand on the ice, and I’ll pull you up,” went on
+Harry. “Steady, now, or the ice will----”
+
+Crack! crack! crash!
+
+The ice around the brave boy had suddenly given way, and on the instant
+he found himself plunged into the chilling water head first.
+
+He went down several feet, and then turned and came up. The shock to
+his system, all overheated from racing, was terrible, and for a few
+seconds he seemed fairly paralyzed.
+
+But he retained his hold on the straps, and by their aid was quickly at
+Minnie Woodruff’s side.
+
+“Oh, Harry!” the girl burst out.
+
+She could not say more, but those two words just then meant a good deal.
+
+“I’ll save you yet, Minnie,” he returned, as he caught her around the
+waist. “Hold fast to me.”
+
+“I--I can’t! I’m so co--cold!”
+
+“I’ll hold you, then,” he went on. “Help! help! help!”
+
+His cry rang out loud and clear across the frozen river. Fortunately,
+several had seen him turn from the race course, and watched where he
+had gone. These persons were now hurrying to the scene of the accident
+as fast as possible.
+
+“It’s Harry Webb!”
+
+“He’s trying to save Minnie Woodruff from drowning!”
+
+“What a plucky boy to leave the race and go in after her!”
+
+These and numerous other shouts went up. Then, as the little crowd
+drew closer, they speculated upon how they should aid the struggling
+pair.
+
+“Somebody get a rope!”
+
+“We want a board worse than anything! You can’t pull them out with a
+rope.”
+
+In the meantime one boy threw out the end of his long tippet to Harry,
+who caught one end of it and tied it about Minnie’s wrist.
+
+Then, suddenly, a boy came skating toward the crowd, carrying a long
+board. It was Boxy Woodruff!
+
+“Here’s a board to get ’em out with!” he cried. “Now if--Minnie!”
+
+He had not previously recognized his sister, and now at the discovery
+he almost fainted.
+
+“Minnie! and Harry has gone in after her!” he murmured. “Oh, I hope
+they both get out safe!”
+
+Willing hands had taken the board and shoved out one end toward the big
+hole in the ice.
+
+“Get back!” shouted a cool-headed man. “Get back, every one, or
+there’ll be a dozen more in together!”
+
+The warning came none too soon, for already the ice was cracking in
+a dozen directions. The crowd started back, only the man and Boxy
+remaining at the outer end of the board, to prevent it slipping around.
+
+Bringing every ounce of his youthful strength into play, Harry caught
+hold of the end of the board, and slowly pulled himself out of the
+water, with Minnie half-clinging, half-held to his side. The ice
+groaned dismally, but did not break, and in a few seconds the two were
+safe once more.
+
+Boxy caught Minnie in his arms just as the exhausted girl was on the
+point of fainting. A crowd of admiring boys surrounded Harry.
+
+“Good for you, Harry!”
+
+“That was well done!”
+
+“My! but he’s got nerve, hasn’t he?”
+
+“I--I guess I had better get ho--home!” chattered the hero of the
+occasion. “I’m almost fro--frozen!”
+
+“Here, take my overcoat!” It was Jack Bascoe who spoke. “You’re a
+brick, Harry! I never dreamed that you had turned out to save Minnie
+Woodruff.”
+
+“Who won the ra--race?” questioned Harry, as he slid into the overcoat
+in short order.
+
+“I did. But you were ahead, and you deserve----”
+
+Jack broke off short, as a sleigh drawn by a pair of coal black horses
+dashed up on the ice. It was old Mr. Grimes’ turnout.
+
+“Get in here, and put the girl in, too!” cried the old fellow, who sat
+on the front seat beside the driver. “Be quick! The sooner you both get
+home the better. You’ll catch your death of cold out here on the river.”
+
+And Minnie Woodruff and Harry were bundled into the back seat by Boxy
+and the others without delay; the robes were piled over them, and then
+off they spun for the town.
+
+Luckily, the Woodruff and Webb homesteads were not far distant, and
+inside of ten minutes both the girl and the boy were in their homes,
+and being taken care of by their mothers.
+
+Mrs. Webb wished Harry to go bed, but he demurred at this.
+
+“I’m not so frail as all that, mother. I’ll go up to your room, where
+it’s warm, and take a good rubbing down and change my clothing, and
+then I’ll be all right. I only hope Minnie gets over it all right.”
+
+Harry departed up the stairs, and after giving him a complete change
+of raiment, Mrs. Webb hurried next door to assist in making Minnie
+comfortable, for she knew Mrs. Woodruff was rather sickly, and could
+not do as readily as most women.
+
+She came back inside of half an hour, and found Harry sitting by the
+dining-room stove, and with him Jack and Andy Bascoe, who had followed
+old Grimes’ sleigh on foot.
+
+“I’m feeling just as well as ever, excepting that I’m awfully tired,”
+said Harry. “How is Minnie?”
+
+“She is abed, but the doctor who was summoned thinks she will recover
+in a day or two. She was in so long that her whole system was chilled.
+Mrs. Woodruff is very thankful for what you did.”
+
+“Oh, I didn’t do any more than any other fair-minded fellow would do,”
+replied Harry, modestly.
+
+“She seems to think so, and so does Boxwell. Mr. Woodruff has not yet
+come home.”
+
+“He is a genuine hero,” put in Andy. “He ran a great risk, and all the
+boys say so.”
+
+Jack agreed with him on this point, and a little later, before
+departing for dinner, spoke of the gold medal he had won.
+
+“That medal ought to go to you, Harry,” he said. “And, by rights, I
+ought to get the second prize, that Sully got. It isn’t fair to do you
+out of your winnings in this way.”
+
+“But you won the medal; I didn’t,” said Harry.
+
+“But you would have won it, though.”
+
+“That’s so,” said Andy.
+
+“I don’t care so much for the medal, but you know I was wishing for the
+money, so I could go with you fellows on that tour----” began Harry.
+
+“Well, if that’s all, I’m going to fix you up on that score,” said
+Jack, decidedly. “I’ll keep the medal and give you the trip money----”
+
+“No, sir!” cried Harry. “I’m going to get that money myself--by earning
+it or otherwise, or else I don’t go. That’s settled.”
+
+And all the talking the Bascoe brothers could do would not shake him
+from this determination.
+
+It was growing toward evening when Boxy’s father, who had been on a
+trip to New York, came home. He was completely taken aback by the news
+that awaited him, and very solicitous concerning his only daughter’s
+welfare.
+
+He remained by Minnie’s side all of that evening, and it was not until
+well into the forenoon of the next day that he ran over to the Webb
+house.
+
+“My dear Harry, how can I thank you for what you have done?” he cried,
+as he grasped the young hero warmly by the hand. “You saved Minnie’s
+life!”
+
+“Well, I’m downright glad of it,” stammered Harry, not finding anything
+else to say on the moment.
+
+“Mrs. Woodruff is also very grateful. I would have been over before,
+but I could not bring myself to leave Minnie’s side.”
+
+“How is she this morning?” questioned Mrs. Webb.
+
+“Very much better--in fact, completely out of danger,” returned the
+happy father. “Harry, I do not know how to reward you,” he went on,
+still wringing the boy’s hand.
+
+“I am not looking for any reward, Mr. Woodruff. I only did what I
+thought was my duty.”
+
+“Nevertheless, you played the part of a real hero, and you deserve a
+rich reward--more than I or any other man in Rudskill can afford.”
+
+“I was glad to save Minnie for friendship’s sake.”
+
+“I believe you, my boy, but I shall not let it rest there, let me tell
+you that. In a few days I am going down to your father’s store and have
+a talk with him about you. Boxwell tells me you have said you would
+like to attend college with him.”
+
+“Indeed, Mr. Woodruff, I would, but--but----”
+
+“Never mind the buts, Harry. I’m going to talk with your father about
+it. Boxwell says he wishes you to take the clerk’s place in the store,
+so as to reduce expenses, but maybe I can fix that up. A bright, brave
+boy like you deserves a chance in life. Now I must go. By the way, here
+is a little trifle from Minnie and Mrs. Woodruff which you must not
+refuse. Boxwell put it in their heads to send it to you.”
+
+As Mr. Woodruff finished, he brought forth a sealed envelope, and
+thrust it into Harry’s hand. Before the boy could utter any protest he
+was gone.
+
+With his mother looking over his shoulder, Harry tore open the
+envelope. There were two things inside. One was a card, on which was
+written:
+
+“Please accept the inclosed for your share of the expense of the coming
+tour of the Zero Club.”
+
+Accompanying the card was a crisp, new twenty-dollar bill.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+GETTING READY TO START.
+
+
+“Twenty dollars!” cried Harry, as he spread out the bill. “What do you
+think of that, mother?”
+
+“It is a very handsome present, Harry. But ought you to accept the
+money?”
+
+“I don’t know. I don’t like to, exactly, but the Woodruffs are rich,
+and they can easily afford it.”
+
+“Still, you had better ask your father about it.”
+
+“I will. I’m going down to the store now.”
+
+Mr. Webb kept the only flour and feed store in Rudskill. As we have
+said, he had been unfortunate in his speculations, and now had to
+live quite frugally to make both ends meet. The business was well
+established, and he employed a clerk and also a man to drive the wagon.
+
+Harry often helped at the store, it being his duty to carry out small
+orders and clean up. During the school term he did this work early in
+the morning and after the school session, but now he did it whenever
+called upon by his parent.
+
+Mr. Webb had heard all about the proposed tour of the Zero Club, and,
+as Harry’s heart seemed set on accompanying the other boys, he had
+good-naturedly determined to let his son off for three or four weeks,
+feeling that the outing would make him more willing than ever to take
+hold when he came back.
+
+But nothing had been said about the expense, Harry knowing full well
+that his father could not afford to let him off and give him money
+besides.
+
+Mr. Webb smiled when his son showed him the card and the twenty-dollar
+bill.
+
+“Well, I don’t know,” he said, slowly. “I helped Mr. Woodruff out more
+than once when I felt rich and he felt poor. I guess you would better
+keep the money and go and thank them for the gift. It’s just what you
+need for the trip, isn’t it?”
+
+“Yes, twenty dollars will more than cover my expenses,” said Harry.
+“And if you say keep the money, let me tell you what I propose to do,
+father.”
+
+“Well?”
+
+“We have reckoned it out, and I can get along on fourteen dollars
+easily. Now I propose to get Paul Larkins to take my place here for
+three weeks at two dollars per week and pay him myself. That will help
+you out, and also give Paul the chance to help his mother, who is down
+sick.”
+
+“But the money is for the trip, Harry,” said Mr. Webb, although well
+pleased at his son’s generous proposal.
+
+“Well, I count that an expense of the trip, getting a substitute while
+I am away.”
+
+“Well, if you say so, let it be so,” returned Mr. Webb, as he turned
+away to wait on a customer.
+
+When Harry was done work he went back home and fixed up, and then
+called on the Woodruffs. Blushing furiously, he took both Mrs. Woodruff
+and Minnie by the hand, and thanked them for their gift. Somehow he
+was glad to escape the praise they showered upon him for what he had
+done.
+
+He left the house with Boxy, who linked arms with him in the most
+brotherly fashion.
+
+“We’ll be greater chums than ever now,” said Boxy. “I’ve talked it over
+with father, and you are to go to college with me when we graduate at
+Rudskill Academy. But never mind that now. You’ll go on the tour, then?”
+
+“Will I! Of course I will!” cried Harry. “I’m fairly bubbling over with
+enthusiasm on that point.”
+
+“Come on and hunt up the Bascoes, then, and we’ll talk matters over.”
+
+It was not difficult to find Andy and Jack, and to them matters were
+quickly explained. The quartet composing the Zero Club at once made
+their way to the meeting-room, and here began an animated discussion of
+plans regarding the proposed tour.
+
+Andy got out a long slip of paper, and on this were put down the many
+articles to be taken along--blankets, skates, guns and ammunition, as
+well as flour, tea, coffee, sugar, salt, spices, canned goods, and
+half-a-dozen tin plates and various kitchen utensils. These goods were
+to be packed on a sled belonging to Boxy, the sled to be tied to the
+iceboat on the way up the river.
+
+Then came the question of the iceboat. As they intended to use the
+craft but a short portion of the way going and coming, it was decided
+to knock it together as cheaply as possible.
+
+“I have got an old sail or two,” said Jack. “And we can get some old
+lumber and iron runners from the ruins of the old blacksmith-shop that
+stands on that property father bought last fall.”
+
+“And I’ve got rope enough,” said Harry. “Father’s mill garret is full
+of it, so much comes around packages.”
+
+Then came the question of when they should start, and it was
+unanimously agreed that the following Monday morning would be best.
+That would give them just enough time to build the iceboat and make
+other necessary preparations.
+
+Andy was appointed treasurer of the club, and that afternoon each
+of the boys paid over to him exactly twelve dollars and a half, so
+that, with his own money, he had fifty dollars to expend for the
+tour. The building of the iceboat was begun without delay at the old
+blacksmith-shop, the land to which sloped down to the river’s edge.
+
+The news that the four boys were going off for nearly a month’s outing
+soon spread, and many came down to the blacksmith-shop to see what was
+going on.
+
+Among the crowd was Pete Sully, who turned up his nose at the boat the
+boys were building.
+
+“If I couldn’t build a better boat than that I’d drown myself,” he
+sneered. “I’ll bet it won’t sail a foot.”
+
+“Build a boat and try your speed against her,” said Jack, lightly.
+“Talk is well enough, but actions go further.”
+
+“Maybe you think I can’t build a boat,” retorted Sully, angrily.
+
+“I’m not thinking in that direction,” returned Jack. “I am busy with my
+own affairs.”
+
+“I’ll build a boat and show you,” growled Sully, and he went off with
+Dixon, his ever-present toady.
+
+“Do you think he’ll build a boat?” questioned Harry, who was hammering
+away on one of the runners of the skeleton craft.
+
+“No; he hasn’t brains enough,” put in Boxy. “I don’t believe he could
+drive a nail without splitting the board, if he tried his best.”
+
+“It’s a case of sour grapes,” remarked Andy. “He is jealous because we
+are going off for a good time.”
+
+“Well, he and his crowd can go off on their own account if they wish,”
+said Jack. “We are not hindering them.”
+
+“Maybe he will take it into his head to go off, after we are gone,”
+said Andy. “He always was a great hand to imitate somebody else.”
+
+It was fortunate that the boys had the old blacksmith-shop to work
+in, for that day it began to snow furiously, and before nightfall the
+ground was covered to the depth of six or eight inches. This, on top of
+the layer already packed down, made elegant sleighing.
+
+“We must have a few more rides on my toboggan before we leave,” said
+Harry.
+
+“Let’s spend Saturday evening on the hill,” suggested Andy. “We can
+go early, and still have time to make final preparations for our tour
+before we go to bed.”
+
+The new fall of snow caused plenty of snowballing to occur in the town.
+The Zero Club took full part in this, and had one battle which was not
+soon forgotten.
+
+It was started by Bill Dixon, who had been “laying to get even” with
+Harry ever since the episode on the toboggan-slide. Dixon hung around
+Harry’s corner on the morning following the snowstorm, in company with
+half-a-dozen lesser lights of the Sully crowd. Under his arms he held
+several “soakers,” almost as hard as flint.
+
+When Harry hurried out of the gate on his way to do the morning work at
+his father’s store, Dixon took careful aim, and let drive with all of
+his might.
+
+The hard snowball took Harry in the left shoulder, hurting him not a
+little. Had it landed in his face it might have put out his eye or
+broken his nose.
+
+Harry staggered back, and Dixon, chuckling over the success of his
+shot, dodged behind a high board fence.
+
+“Give it to him, fellows!” he cried, excitedly. “Give it to him in the
+head!”
+
+Several more snowballs were thrown, but Harry was now on his guard. He
+dodged them, and began to run across the street, gathering up some snow
+as he ran.
+
+“What’s up, Harry?” cried Boxy, coming out of his house at the moment.
+
+“Some fellow hit me terribly hard in the shoulder. Come on!” returned
+Harry, and, in honor bound to help a fellow member of the club, Boxy
+ran after his chum.
+
+At the end of the fence they caught sight of Dixon and the others. A
+fierce fusillade of snowballs from both sides followed. Harry hit Dixon
+in the chest, and Boxy knocked off his cap.
+
+“Go for ’em!” shouted Dixon, in a rage. “Hullo, there, Pete!” he yelled
+to Sully, who was out looking for him, and the principal of the gang
+soon joined the forces against the two members of the Zero Club.
+
+Two to seven was an uneven contest, and it was not long before Harry
+and Boxy felt they were getting the worst of it.
+
+“If only Jack and Andy were here!” panted Boxy. “Unless they come,
+we’ll have to turn tail and run.”
+
+“I sha’n’t run,” said Harry, firmly. “Let’s direct all of our shots
+at Sully and Dixon. They are the leaders of the crowd, and if we can
+frighten them back the others will quickly follow.”
+
+Boxy caught the suggestion, and it was carried out immediately. The
+result was that inside of two minutes Sully got three snowballs in his
+face and neck, and Dixon half a dozen all over him.
+
+“Hi! that ain’t fair!” howled Dixon. “They’re throwing at me and nobody
+else!”
+
+“Another volley on Dixon,” whispered Harry. “That’s the weak point now.”
+
+And out flew the hard, white balls, and the bully’s toady received two
+more, this time both in the neck. The snow went down inside of his
+collar, causing him to yell from the cold.
+
+“I--I can’t stand this!” he sputtered. “Why don’t you fellows do
+something?”
+
+“Let’s charge on them!” cried Sully, angrily. “Come on--everybody take
+all the snowballs he can carry.”
+
+The seven loaded up with ammunition at once, and they sallied forth.
+But, to their dismay, Jack and Andy Bascoe had just arrived on the
+scene, followed up by Pickles Johnsing, the colored youth. These three
+were not slow to take in the situation, and they sailed in vigorously.
+
+“Dis am most lubly sport!” cried Pickles. “How yo’ like dat, Sully? Ki!
+hi! Ain’t dat jess elegant, Dixon? An’ heah’s one fo’ you, Len Spencer,
+fo’ callin’ me a coon!”
+
+And Pickles rushed to the front, followed by Andy and Jack, and
+compelling Sully and his crowd to retreat in spite of themselves. Aided
+by Boxy and Harry, they fought so vigorously that inside of ten minutes
+the bully and his chums were put completely to rout.
+
+Sully and Dixon, and also Len Spencer, Pickles’ particular enemy,
+were greatly enraged over the way they had been used. They threatened
+vengeance on the members of the Zero Club. How they carried out their
+threat will be seen later on.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+LAST RIDE ON THE BUSTER.
+
+
+By Saturday noon the iceboat was finished. It was nearly thirty feet
+long, and boasted of a mainsail only. It was by no means a handsome
+craft, and the boys did not doubt but what there were many crafts on
+the river that could outspeed her.
+
+“But she’ll be safe and sure,” remarked Jack, “and that is what we
+want.”
+
+“We must christen her before we make a trial trip this afternoon,” said
+Andy. “We have suggested a hundred names, and not chosen any.”
+
+“Let us put each name on a slip of paper, and put all the slips in a
+hat,” suggested Boxy. “Then Harry draw one, and that shall be the name.”
+
+This was at once agreed to, and nine names went into Andy’s cap. Harry
+fumbled around, and finally drew a slip out and read it aloud.
+
+“The _Icicle_! That suits me. Who wrote it down?”
+
+“I did,” said Jack.
+
+“It’s a good name for an iceboat,” put in Boxy. “Hurrah for the Zero
+Club and the _Icicle_!” he shouted.
+
+And three cheers were given with a will.
+
+Directly after dinner the four boys shoved the clumsy craft down to the
+ice, and made a trial trip on her across the river and back and two
+miles up the shore. The _Icicle_ behaved very well, and Jack declared
+that they would have no trouble in reaching their destination on her.
+
+As soon as the trial trip was over they separated to get their various
+things, for they were determined that all should be in readiness for
+the start Monday morning at sunrise, and that nothing was to be done on
+the Sabbath.
+
+Blankets, skates, and other things were taken down to the meeting-room
+in the Bascoe barn. Andy and Jack had shotguns of their own, and Boxy
+had a rifle. Harry had no firearms, but borrowed from his father a
+small shotgun. Each of the boys also provided himself with fishing
+lines, and Jack took along a spear for spearing through a hole in the
+ice.
+
+“The sled will be pretty well heaped up, I’m thinking,” remarked Boxy,
+who was doing the packing.
+
+“Won’t it tip over if it’s too highly packed?” asked Andy.
+
+“We’ll put a bent stick across the top,” said Jack. “That will keep it
+from tipping only so far.”
+
+“We want to make sure that nothing is forgotten,” said Harry. “It
+would be fine to get miles from any house, and then find that you had
+forgotten something you wanted the worst way.”
+
+“I’ve got the list, and I’ve checked off the articles,” returned Andy.
+“I’ve even got the forks and knives and spoons down.”
+
+“Have you got a big carving-knife? We can’t do without that.”
+
+“By gracious! I never thought of that!” exclaimed Andy, his face
+reddening. “We wouldn’t be able to cut up a bear even if we shot him.”
+
+“I’ve brought a hunting-knife,” put in Boxy. “See here--a regular
+Mohawk scalping steel. Wah! wah! Me take white man’s scalp and dry him
+hair for smoking tobac!” he went on, dancing around and flourishing the
+knife in true Indian fashion--according to a dime novel he had once had
+the patience to wade through.
+
+“Beware of Bloody Ben of Digger’s Gulch!” shrieked Andy, in reply,
+and he caught up his gun. “He is out to avenge the murder of his
+twenty-fo-o-ur bro-o-thers!”
+
+“Here, Andy, don’t point that gun at any one,” put in Jack, sternly.
+
+“It isn’t loaded, Jack.”
+
+“Never mind, put it down. There are too many accidents of that sort,
+where somebody didn’t think the gun was loaded.”
+
+Andy put down the firearm, and packing was resumed, Jack going into the
+house to obtain a carving-knife for the trip.
+
+At last the sled was loaded, and covered over with an old rubber
+horse-blanket which Mr. Woodruff gave to Boxy. The load was strapped
+on as tightly as possible, and over it was placed the stick Jack had
+mentioned, the two ends sticking out and downward nearly two feet on
+either side.
+
+“Now we are all ready for the start,” observed Andy, as he surveyed
+what had been done. “How I wish it were Monday morning, so that we
+wouldn’t have to wait.”
+
+“You mustn’t forget the rides to-night on the _Buster_,” said Harry.
+“It may be the last time we can use the toboggan this winter.”
+
+“Oh, I guess the snow will keep until we get back,” said Andy. “But I
+am right ready for the sport to-night, nevertheless.”
+
+The packed sled was locked up in the barn, and the boys repaired to
+their various homes for supper.
+
+“Well, Harry, all ready?” smiled Mrs. Webb, who took a keen interest in
+her son’s doings.
+
+“All ready, mother,” he returned. “Is supper ready? We are going
+tobogganing for the last time to-night.”
+
+“Yes, you can have supper at once, Harry. But I want some wood brought
+in first.”
+
+“That’s so! I didn’t mean to forget it!” he cried, and, dashing out
+into the woodshed, which he had piled high with split wood ready for
+the stove, the boy brought in an armful. “Paul Larkins has promised to
+bring in wood and do errands for you while I am away,” he said. “So you
+won’t miss me so very much.”
+
+“Yes, I will miss you, Harry,” returned Mrs. Webb, affectionately.
+
+“Oh, yes, I know. And I’ll miss you, too,” he replied, throwing his
+arms about her neck and kissing her. “It will seem awfully queer to be
+away from home.”
+
+“You must take good care of yourself.”
+
+“I’ll try to do that, mother.”
+
+Harry did not spend much time at the supper table, and, his hasty meal
+finished, he brought out the _Buster_, and examined the toboggan to see
+if it was in good trim for the evening’s sport. Little did he dream of
+the fearful peril a ride on the long, low sled was to bring him and the
+others.
+
+Boxy came over a moment later, and together they dragged the _Buster_
+off toward the coasting hills. They had to pass the Bascoe homestead,
+and here Boxy let out the peculiar whistle of the club for Andy and
+Jack.
+
+“They say the Doublehill course is as smooth as glass,” said Andy, as
+he came out with a piece of cake in his hand. “Some of the folks don’t
+dare go down it.”
+
+“I’m not afraid,” cried Harry. “Are you?”
+
+All of the boys agreed that they were not. Each took hold of the rope,
+and they soon reached the top of the long double hill, where a bright
+bonfire was already burning, although it was still almost daylight.
+
+“We ought to have a brake of some sort, I suppose,” mused Jack, as he
+surveyed the shining course, “It does look awfully slippery.”
+
+“Oh, go ahead!” put in Boxy, impatiently. “I guess if we tumble off it
+won’t kill us.”
+
+He sprang upon the toboggan, and, seeing this, Andy and Jack followed.
+Harry gave the customary push and clung fast, and away they started
+down the first of the two hills.
+
+Whiz went the _Buster_ over the smooth surface, rushing along with a
+speed that fairly took away their breath.
+
+“Talk about cannon-ball speed!” cried Boxy. “A cannon-ball couldn’t
+catch us!”
+
+“Hark!” cried Jack. “What was that whistle?”
+
+“It’s a train on the railroad,” replied Harry. “It’s the extra Saturday
+night express! I forgot all about it,” he went on, with a little gasp.
+
+“We’ll have to turn off at the tracks,” put in Andy, nervously.
+
+“If we can,” said Jack. “We are going so fast that perhaps it can’t be
+done.”
+
+“We must do it!” cried Boxy, in alarm.
+
+“Yes! yes! we must!”
+
+It was easy enough to say they must, but how could they? The toboggan
+was rushing on faster than ever. Over the brow of the second hill it
+went, and down the slope toward the tracks. Jack tried to steer to the
+side, and so did the others, but all in vain.
+
+And now they saw the train rounding the side of the hill, and coming
+on at full speed, the bell ringing and the whistle blowing to warn
+everybody off the tracks.
+
+Jack, who was in front, made another desperate effort to change their
+course. It was useless. Andy, who was next to him, tried to scream out,
+but the sound stuck in his throat. It looked as if all four of the boys
+were going to certain destruction.
+
+[Illustration: “Jump for your lives!” See page 53.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+BY A HAIR’S BREADTH.
+
+
+Harry, who half stood up on the end of the flying toboggan, was the
+only member of the Zero Club who retained his presence of mind.
+
+He saw at a glance that they and the oncoming express train must
+reach the crossing at about the same time, and in that case the grim
+locomotive and heavy cars would deal to them certain death.
+
+“Jump for your lives!” he cried out, hoarsely. “Jump, every one of you!”
+
+His tone was so decisive that the other three acted on it almost
+mechanically. Jack, who was in front, leaped first, and after him came
+all the others in a heap.
+
+Over and over they rolled, each trying to shield himself as much as he
+could by the overcoat he wore. Jack went down to the bottom of the hill
+on his head, and poor Andy came over him, striking his forehead on a
+railroad tie, the blow rendering him unconscious.
+
+Boxy slid along on his chest to one side, and crashed into a mass of
+brush with such force that his clothing was torn to ribbons, and his
+face and hands were scratched in a dozen places.
+
+Harry struck on his back, and turned half-a-dozen different ways before
+he could stop himself. When finally he did come to a halt, it was
+within two feet of the railroad tracks.
+
+The powerful locomotive rushed past, followed by the tender and two
+cars. Then there was a series of sharp jerks as the lever was reversed
+by the engineer, the tracks were sanded, and the long train came to
+a sudden halt. The conductor and several brakemen were out almost
+instantly, demanding to know what was the matter.
+
+“Come pretty near running over that crowd!” cried out the engineer. “If
+they had not jumped, I reckon I would have killed most of ’em.”
+
+“I don’t see any toboggan,” returned the conductor.
+
+“I smashed that to kindling wood. There’s part of it on the cowcatcher,
+and the rest is on the other side of the track.”
+
+“By George! that’s so. You can count yourselves mighty lucky, boys,”
+went on the conductor, to Jack, who was getting up slowly.
+
+“I suppose so,” returned Jack, briefly, and then he turned to where
+Andy was lying, and bent over his younger brother. “Andy! Andy! are you
+hurt very badly?”
+
+“Jack!” murmured the half-unconscious boy. “Oh, my head!”
+
+“He struck it on the ties, I guess,” said one of the brakemen. “It’s
+bleeding a bit. Better rub some snow on it.”
+
+By this time Harry and Boxy came limping to the scene, both presenting
+a most deplorable sight, Boxy especially, with half of his clothing
+torn from his back.
+
+“We can’t wait,” said the conductor. “You want to be more careful how
+you coast down this hill,” he went on, to the crowd that was beginning
+to collect. “If you don’t, we’ll have the worst kind of an accident
+here some day.”
+
+He motioned to the engineer, and hurried to one of the cars, followed
+by the other train hands. In a few seconds the express was once more on
+its way.
+
+The crowd around the boys kept growing, as it spread that an accident
+had occurred.
+
+“Harry Webb’s toboggan was smashed by the express!”
+
+“Andy Bascoe was almost killed!”
+
+“Every one of them was shaken up badly!”
+
+Under the tender care of Jack and the others, Andy soon came to
+himself. But his head ached fearfully, and he could hardly stand on his
+feet.
+
+“Yo’ sit on my bread-shubble, and I’ll ride yo’ home,” said Pickles
+Johnsing, who happened to be on hand. “Yo’ can sit on an’ hole him,
+Jack, if yo’ wants to,” he continued.
+
+So Jack got on, and made it comfortable for Andy, whose head he had
+bound up with his own handkerchief and several others. Although they
+felt sore in every joint, Harry and Boxy insisted on helping Pickles
+drag the sled to its destination.
+
+“The _Buster_ is smashed to bits,” said Boxy on the way.
+
+“I know it,” returned Harry. “But I don’t care,” he added, with a
+shudder. “I couldn’t bear to ride on her again after that narrow
+escape.”
+
+“Nor I. My! I ain’t done trembling yet,” was Boxy’s confession, in a
+low tone.
+
+The news of the accident had preceded them, and they found Mr. and Mrs.
+Bascoe anxiously awaiting their appearance.
+
+“My boy!” cried the mother, as she caught Andy in her arms. “And you
+were almost killed?”
+
+“Oh, no, mother; I struck my head, that’s all,” replied Andy, putting
+on a bold front. “I’ll be all right by to-morrow.”
+
+Andy limped into the house, and a servant was dispatched for a doctor.
+When the physician arrived he declared that the bruise was not serious.
+The shock to the boy’s system was worse, and he must remain quiet for a
+day or two.
+
+“We won’t be able to go away on Monday morning,” said Jack to the
+others. “Father says we had better wait until Tuesday or Wednesday.”
+
+“I don’t care,” said Harry. “I am thankful we escaped being killed.”
+
+“So am I,” put in Boxy. “And I just as lief wait, for I’m too stiff to
+start off on a tour just yet.”
+
+“How is Minnie?”
+
+“Oh, she’s as well as ever.”
+
+Sunday passed quietly, although the escape of the four boys was the
+talk of the town. On Monday Andy was found to be greatly improved,
+and it was decided that the start up the river should be made on the
+following morning at sunrise.
+
+“It won’t do to delay much longer,” said Jack, “for it looks as if
+we might have a heavy snowstorm before long, and that would block our
+chances of using the _Icicle_.”
+
+“Oh, I hope it doesn’t snow until we are settled in our camp!” cried
+Boxy. “I was just longing for that iceboat ride!”
+
+Even at the last moment, the boys found several things to do which had
+previously escaped their notice. Some stores had been forgotten, and
+not a bit of medicine, arnica or court-plaster had been packed with the
+things. All these, however, were procured, and late Monday evening Jack
+declared themselves prepared to depart.
+
+It may well be imagined that none of the boys slept well that night.
+Each was anxious for the start, and all heads were filled with visions
+of glorious times to come. What a great and grand thing this tour of
+the Zero Club was to be!
+
+Long before daylight Harry was up and dressed. His mother also arose,
+and saw to it that her son had a good warm breakfast before he departed.
+
+“You won’t get another like it for some time to come,” she said, with a
+sorry little smile. “Mark my words.”
+
+“Nonsense, mother,” he laughed. “Just think of the game we’ll shoot and
+the fish we’ll catch.”
+
+“Perhaps, Harry. Remember one thing, my boy; do not run into danger.”
+
+“I’ll try to remember what you say.”
+
+Harry had barely finished when Boxy came over, and, with a final
+good-by, the two started off for the Bascoe homestead.
+
+They found the other two members of the club waiting for them. Jack
+had the well-packed sled out of the barn, and Andy stood beside him, a
+trifle pale, but otherwise as well as ever.
+
+“Just a fine morning!” cried Jack. “And the wind blowing exactly in the
+right direction.”
+
+“But snow isn’t far off--my father said so,” returned Harry. “He
+said we would be lucky to reach Rock Island Lake without catching a
+downfall.”
+
+“We won’t lose another minute!” burst in Boxy. “Come on, boys! Good-by,
+everybody, and three cheers for the tour of the Zero Club!”
+
+The backyard rang with the cheers, and then, with caps waving, the four
+boys moved off, dragging the sled behind them.
+
+It certainly was a fine morning, the rising sun sending long glittering
+rays over the crust of the frozen snow. The wind was a trifle cold, but
+this the quartet did not mind. For them, just now, it was much better
+than no wind at all.
+
+“I calculate that we can reach Hammerstone by twelve o’clock,” said
+Jack. “And that will be half the journey up the river.”
+
+“And we can reach Rudd’s Landing by nightfall,” put in Boxy. “And start
+across country for the lake the first thing to-morrow. Did you send
+word to Barton Coils about taking care of the iceboat for us?”
+
+“Yes, and he said we could stay at his place all night if we wished.
+I reckon it will be better than trying to put up a hut just for one
+night.”
+
+Boxy demurred a little at this. He wished to go to camping just as
+quickly as possible. But the others overruled him.
+
+“We’ll get camping enough, never fear,” remarked Andy. “Remember, we’ll
+have to put in one night on this side of the lake shore before we
+strike a suitable place to camp.”
+
+As soon as they reached the vicinity of the river, Harry ran ahead to
+unfasten the iceboat, and get the craft in readiness for the start.
+
+A few seconds later the others heard him give a cry of wild alarm. He
+soon reappeared among them.
+
+“The _Icicle_ is gone!” was the startling intelligence he brought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE STOLEN ICEBOAT.
+
+
+The other members of the Zero Club came to a dead halt.
+
+“Gone!” burst out Andy and Boxy in a breath, while Jack looked as if he
+had not heard aright.
+
+“Yes, gone!” repeated Harry.
+
+“But I locked it fast to the piling!” exclaimed Jack. “You have the
+key.”
+
+“I don’t care! she’s gone, and I can’t see anything of her.”
+
+Without another word, the quartet hurried down to the edge of the ice.
+It was just as Harry had announced, the iceboat was nowhere in sight.
+Each of the boys looked at his comrades.
+
+“What does it mean?” asked Boxy.
+
+“It means that the _Icicle_ has been stolen!” cried Jack.
+
+“Stolen?”
+
+“Yes. It was locked up tight enough. Somebody has come here and either
+broken the lock or else had a key to fit it. Boys, we are in a hole!”
+
+The faces of the Zero Club fell. Without their iceboat, with which to
+make the journey up the river, what was to be done?
+
+“Who would have taken her?” questioned Boxy, after running out on the
+frozen river and looking up and down anxiously.
+
+“Maybe some tramps,” suggested Andy. “I saw several of them hanging
+around yesterday.”
+
+“I saw those tramps, too,” returned Harry. “It would be just like them,
+if they wanted to go to some other place on the river.”
+
+“It’s a real shame!” muttered Jack. “Our trip spoiled at the very
+start.”
+
+“If we only knew in what direction the boat had gone we might go after
+her,” said Andy. “Our skates are on the sled, you know.”
+
+“That’s the ticket!” burst out Boxy. “Give me my skates without delay.
+It’s ten to one they went off this morning, and so they can’t be very
+far away.”
+
+“I have an idea,” said Jack. “Supposing two of us skate up the river,
+and two down, on the lookout? We’ll go, say three or four miles, and if
+we don’t see anything we can return here.”
+
+“All right,” returned Harry. “We can’t afford to let anybody run off
+with the _Icicle_.”
+
+While the boys were talking over this plan in an excited way, and
+getting out their skates and putting them on, the well-known figure of
+Pickles Johnsing appeared in sight. The colored youth was running as
+fast as his short, fat legs would permit.
+
+“Mos’ dun missed yo’!” he gasped. “An’ I made up my mind to see yo’
+off, suah!”
+
+“We’re not off just yet, Pickles,” said Jack.
+
+“No? I t’ought yo’ wuz gwine soon as de sun shone up?”
+
+“Our iceboat has been stolen. We just found it out,” said Boxy. “Do you
+know anything about it?”
+
+“Wot? De _Isticle_ gone?” ejaculated the colored youth, with his big
+eyes rolling in wonder. “Yo’ don’t say! Who dun tuk her?”
+
+“That’s what we want to know,” said Andy.
+
+Pickles began to blink his eyes, as if in deep thought. Then suddenly
+he slapped his thigh with his broad hand.
+
+“By de boots! I fink I know who dun tuk de _Isticle_!” he roared.
+
+“You do?” came in concert from the members of the Zero Club.
+
+“Yes, sah!”
+
+“Who?”
+
+“Sully, Dixon and dat low-down Len Spencer!”
+
+The boys started.
+
+“What makes you think so?” asked Jack, catching the colored youth by
+the arm.
+
+“I heered dem a-talkin’ ’bout it las’ night on de toboggan-slide.
+Sully said he would like ter break up yo’r gwine away, and Dixon said
+de _Isticle_ was tied up down heah, an’ da could git hold ob it easy
+enought an’ put yo’ in de hole.”
+
+“That settles it!” cried Harry, angrily. “Our old enemies are at work
+against us. They took the iceboat just to break up our tour.”
+
+“But they sha’n’t break it up!” cried Boxy. “I’ll go on foot first!”
+
+“So will I,” joined in Andy.
+
+“If we only knew where they had taken the _Icicle_ we might go after
+them,” said Jack. “I don’t believe in letting them have their own way.”
+
+“Nor I--after working so hard on the iceboat,” added Boxy. “Pickles,
+did they say anything about where they might go?”
+
+“No, da didn’t,” replied the colored youth, slowly. “But, hol’ on--Len
+Spencer said he was gwine down to Lumberton to-day fo’ his father----”
+
+“Then that’s where they have gone!” put in Jack, hurriedly. “Of course,
+they wouldn’t dare go up the river, knowing we were bound that way.
+I’ll bet a dollar they are on the way to Lumberton this minute!”
+
+“I believe you,” said Harry. “Shall we go after them?”
+
+“Of course!”
+
+“Certainly!”
+
+“Can we catch them?”
+
+“We ought to be able to do so on our skates. The wind is almost full
+against them, so they will have to do a bit of tacking, while we can
+skate straight ahead.”
+
+With frantic haste, the four boys completed the task of putting on
+their skates. Pickles had his pair along with him, and put them on also.
+
+“I’se gwine wid yo’, if you lets me,” he said. “Maybe yo’ll want some
+help if yo’ gits in a muss.”
+
+“Certainly, come on, Pickles,” said Jack.
+
+The sled was left in a safe place, and then, without further delay,
+the five boys started down the river toward Lumberton, a small
+settlement ten miles distant.
+
+At first but slow progress was made, owing to the stiffness felt by
+the members of the Zero Club from the toboggan accident. But gradually
+they warmed up to the work, and then they glided over the smooth ice
+rapidly. Pickles, who was a good skater, despite the shortness of his
+legs, kept close to Jack’s side.
+
+“I wish we were provided with clubs,” said Boxy. “We may have a rough
+time of it with Sully and his gang. He hasn’t forgotten how we got the
+best of him at snowballing, and most likely he’s prepared to fight us
+off.”
+
+“He’ll give up the iceboat fast enough, never fear,” returned Jack.
+“You must remember, I can have him arrested for stealing our property
+if I want to.”
+
+“But you wouldn’t do that, would you?” asked Harry.
+
+“Not unless he got positively ugly. But he must be taught to remember
+that we intend to stand no nonsense.”
+
+On and on down the frozen river swept the five boys, until Rudskill was
+left far behind. The sun mounted higher in the sky, tempering the wind
+and making skating more agreeable.
+
+“We’ll soon be up to Thompson’s Bend, and then we’ll have a straight
+course before us,” said Andy.
+
+“If I’d thought, I would have taken the field-glasses from the pack,”
+said Boxy. “Then we could have seen the _Icicle_ even if she was miles
+off.”
+
+“I kin see dat _Isticle_ fur ’nouf, nebber fear,” said Pickles. “My
+eyes hab been trained since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.”
+
+The bend Jack had mentioned was reached five minutes later, and in a
+bunch the boys swept around the last projecting headland. A straight
+course for twelve miles lay before them.
+
+“There’s the _Icicle_!” cried Andy, suddenly.
+
+“Where? where?” came from the others.
+
+“Over to the east shore! See, they are tacking this way!”
+
+“You are right!” returned Harry. “And there is Bill Dixon standing at
+the bow.”
+
+“An’ dat low-down Len Spencer in de back, alongside ub Pete Sully!”
+added Pickles. “Didn’t I dun tole yo’ da was comin’ dis way?”
+
+“They have discovered us!” exclaimed Boxy, a second later. “See, they
+intend to turn on the other tack. Come on, fellows, we mustn’t give
+them a chance to get away!”
+
+He started off at full speed on his skates, and the others quickly
+followed.
+
+The iceboat was all of an eighth mile off, and speeding over the river
+as fast as the wind would carry her. Those on board had discovered the
+owners as quickly as they themselves had been revealed, and were now
+making frantic efforts to get out of the reach of their pursuers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE TOUR BEGINS.
+
+
+“I wonder if they will attempt to fight?” asked Harry, as he swept on
+beside Jack.
+
+“I hardly think so,” was the reply. “But if they do, we are five to
+three.”
+
+“I own dat Len Spencer a lickin’,” put in Pickles. “He won’t dare say
+one word to dis child or he dun cotch it, suah.”
+
+“Don’t start a fight,” warned Jack, earnestly. “We have the law on our
+side, and that’s enough.”
+
+By this time half the distance toward the _Icicle_ had been covered.
+During this interval those on board the iceboat had managed to swing
+about the main sheet. It was now filling, and the craft was beginning
+to draw slowly away from them.
+
+“Stop there!” shouted Jack, at the top of his lungs, and the others
+joined in the cry.
+
+“Good-by!” shouted Sully, derisively. “Hope you enjoy skating!”
+
+“We’ll have you locked up if you don’t stop!” yelled Boxy. “That is our
+property you are running off with!”
+
+“Rats!” returned Sully, but he and his companions were not a little
+disturbed by Boxy’s plain statement of facts.
+
+“We must put on more steam!” urged Harry. “If they once catch the wind
+fairly they will give us a nice chase across to the Lights.”
+
+“Never mind, we’ll catch them on the next tack!” said Andy.
+
+Nevertheless, the five boys put on a burst of speed which brought them
+to within a couple of hundred feet of the _Icicle_.
+
+“They are going to tack back!” cried Harry. “Now if we try----”
+
+“They are going to turn round and sail right with the wind!” burst
+in Jack. “Hurry up, or we’ll lose them and have to follow them to
+Rudskill, and goodness only knows how much farther!”
+
+Jack was right. Sully had given the order, and all hands on the Icicle
+were aiding in turning her bow up the river.
+
+The clumsy craft swung around in the wind while they were still just
+out of reach. Then the mainsail again caught the breeze, and off moved
+the iceboat at a livelier speed than ever.
+
+“We’re beaten!” gasped Andy.
+
+“No, we are not!” shouted Jack. “Come on, fellows! They have got to
+steer to the right to avoid that open flow over there!”
+
+Away he went, with Harry, Boxy and Pickles at his heels. Andy could not
+keep up the pace, and dropped a little behind.
+
+Harry felt as if he was once more in the five-mile race, and put forth
+every ounce of muscle that was in his sturdy limbs. Gradually he drew
+ahead of his companions and closer to the iceboat.
+
+Those on the _Icicle_ saw him gaining on them, and endeavored to
+increase their speed. But it was of no avail, the wind subsiding just a
+trifle when most needed by them.
+
+In another half-minute Harry was alongside of the iceboat. He attempted
+to jump on board, but Sully sprang at him and pushed him off.
+
+“Keep away, or I’ll crack you in the head!” shouted the bully of
+Rudskill, roughly.
+
+“This is our iceboat, and I am bound to get on board!” returned Harry.
+“Don’t you dare to touch me again, or you’ll get the worst of it.”
+
+Once more he skated up and caught hold. Sully again tried to push
+him back. Harry grabbed his arm, and an instant later the bully went
+sliding down on his back on the hard ice.
+
+“Oh! oh! my back!” howled Sully, in combined fright and pain.
+
+“Serves him right!” returned Harry. “Come on, boys, I’ve got rid of one
+of them!” he shouted to his companions.
+
+To avoid the open flow before mentioned, Dixon and Spencer were now
+tacking once more. This allowed Harry to reach the iceboat a third
+time, and now he sprang safely aboard.
+
+“Lower the mainsail!” he cried, in a determined voice. “Do you hear,
+Dixon?”
+
+“But--but----” stammered the bully’s toady.
+
+“No buts about it; lower the sail, I tell you, unless you want to be
+pitched off after Sully!”
+
+Seeing Sully’s fate, Dixon was thoroughly cowed, and he hastened to do
+as Harry had ordered. Hardly had the sail come down than Jack and the
+others swept up and boarded the _Icicle_ in a body.
+
+“Don’t--don’t kill us!” cried Spencer, who was even a worse coward than
+Dixon.
+
+“Yo’ is a fine fellah to run off wid other folkeses property!” put in
+Pickles. “I dun reckon Jack an’ de rest will send yo’ all to prison fo’
+ten or twelve yeahs!”
+
+“It wasn’t my--my fault!” whined Spencer. “Sully put up the job.”
+
+“You get right off the boat!” commanded Jack. “And you, too, Dixon!”
+
+“Here, in the middle of the river?” questioned the latter, anxiously.
+
+“Yes, right here.”
+
+“You don’t mean to leave us way out here, four miles from home, do
+you?” demanded Sully, as he limped up.
+
+“Yes, leave them here,” put in Boxy. “They deserve it.”
+
+“It won’t hurt them to walk home,” said Harry.
+
+“Dat’s jess right,” added Pickles. “Let dem walk ebery step ub de way.”
+
+He and the others sprang on board of the iceboat and began to hoist the
+mainsail. They had hardly done so when Sully rushed up and tried to hit
+Jack in the head with his fist.
+
+Pickles sprang forward and pushed the bully’s arm aside. Then he let
+out with his own fist, and down went Sully flat on his back, while the
+_Icicle_ sailed off, leaving Dixon and Spencer staring at the fate of
+their leader in dumb amazement.
+
+“That’s the time you did it, Pickles!” cried Boxy, approvingly. “My!
+just look how mad Sully is!”
+
+They looked back and saw that the bully had arisen to his feet and was
+shaking his fist at them in rage. A moment later they swept around
+Thompson’s Bend, and the trio of defeated ones was lost to view.
+
+“I owe you one for your aid, Pickles,” said Jack, with a kindly look at
+the colored boy, who grinned with pleasure. “I sha’n’t forget you.”
+
+Pickles cleared his throat several times and looked down at the ice for
+a moment in silence. The boys saw at once that something was on his
+mind.
+
+“Say, why can’t yo’ fellahs take me along!” he burst out suddenly.
+“Ebery fust-class camp hab got to hab a cook an’ general util’ty man
+around, pap sez, an’ he sez I kin go along if youse will hab me. I
+don’t want no pay fo’ gwine along, an’ I’ll do wot I kin to help fill
+up de larder. I ain’t much wid a gun, but I kin trap t’ings, and yo’
+all knows wot I kin do fishin’ an’ spearin’. It an’t fo’ de likes of
+yo’ to wash de dishes and sech, an’--an’, to tell de truf, I wants to
+go powerful bad!”
+
+And Pickles’ big, round eyes told very plainly that he spoke the
+truth. He had had that suggestion on his mind a long while, but he had
+hesitated to speak for fear of being refused.
+
+The boys looked at each other. They had not thought to include any
+one but themselves in the proposed outing. But it would be a shame to
+disappoint Pickles, who had always stood by them and done them more
+than one favor.
+
+“An’ I kin take my banjo and mouf harmonica along,” went on the
+colored youth. “Da will come in mighty handy-like to help kill de long
+evenings.”
+
+“That’s so,” said Boxy. “And you can give me those lessons you promised
+me.”
+
+“And you can show me how to build those traps you spoke about,” added
+Harry.
+
+“Yes, I want to learn how to trap, too,” put in Andy.
+
+“I guess you can go, Pickles,” finished up Jack, and it was settled
+that the colored youth should become one of the party.
+
+Pickles was so delighted that he could hardly contain himself. As soon
+as Rudskill was reached he ran off to tell his folks and prepare for
+the trip. He was gone but a short half-hour, and came back with a spear
+on his shoulder and an old army knapsack strapped on his back.
+
+The sled was brought out and tied on behind the _Icicle_, and then,
+without further delay, the long-talked-of tour was begun.
+
+“We have lost about two hours,” said Jack. “But as the breeze is
+stronger than ever, perhaps we can make up the lost time before
+nightfall.”
+
+The wind was indeed stronger, and soon Rudskill and the surrounding
+settlement was left far behind.
+
+Now that the _Icicle_ had been recovered and they were at last on
+the way, all of the boys felt in high spirits. Boxy began to whistle
+merrily, and soon after Pickles broke out into a comic negro ditty that
+set them all to roaring.
+
+It was after one o’clock when Hammerstone was reached. It being an
+hour later than they had anticipated, it was decided that they should
+procure a lunch to eat on the iceboat instead of stopping off for a
+meal. Jack procured the stuff--sandwiches and a big mince pie--and soon
+they were on the way to Rudd’s Landing, their stopping place for the
+night.
+
+By four o’clock Jack calculated that they had traveled three-quarters
+of the distance from Rudskill.
+
+“And if the wind holds out, we’ll be in Rudd’s Landing by seven or
+half-past,” he said.
+
+By five o’clock it began to grow both darker and colder. A little later
+the wind died down somewhat, although it still blew sufficiently strong
+to keep them spinning on their course.
+
+“Gosh! a cup of coffee wouldn’t go bad!” exclaimed Andy, who was taking
+it easy beside Harry, in the stern. “I’m pretty well chilled.”
+
+“It won’t be long before we’re there, now,” replied his brother. “You
+can see the lights away ahead of us.”
+
+On they went through the semi-darkness, for another half mile. They
+were now approaching a spot where a side creek of considerable
+dimensions flowed into the river.
+
+Suddenly Pickles, who was in the bow on watch, uttered a cry of terror.
+
+“Turn de boat around!” he screamed. “We is runin’ into de open watah!”
+
+The others sprang up and gazed ahead. It was true; the _Icicle_ was
+making directly for a wide opening in the ice, scarcely a hundred yards
+ahead!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+CLOSE QUARTERS.
+
+
+Every one of the five boys on the iceboat was filled with terror over
+the danger which confronted them.
+
+At the rate of speed they were going, the _Icicle_ would soon reach
+the edge of the great opening before them, and they well knew that the
+onward rush would carry them far out into the icy waters.
+
+“Stop her, somebody!” cried Andy. “We will all be drowned!”
+
+“Everybody on the right side!” yelled Jack. “Down with the sail!”
+
+All on board made a rush to the right, and bore heavily on the
+steering-iron on that side. Harry caught hold of the ropes attached
+to the sail, and untied them. Down came the sheet in a lump, falling
+partly over the crowd and dragging on the ice beside them.
+
+The _Icicle_ began to swing around, and also slowed up. The
+semi-circular motion caused the sail to get under the steering-iron,
+and this helped to stay their onward progress.
+
+“We’ll have to jump!” cried Boxy. “Look how close we are getting!”
+
+“No; we’ll stop before we get there,” returned Jack. “Hard on the iron,
+everybody!”
+
+There was a sharp, rasping sound as the _Icicle_ struck a bit of lumpy
+ice, and the clumsy craft trembled from stem to stern. She swung
+completely around, and came to a halt when within twenty feet of where
+the dark waters from the side creek rushed along silently.
+
+“My gracious! but that was a close shave!” murmured Boxy, as he wiped
+the cold sweat from his forehead.
+
+“Dat am de werry closest shabe wot I ever ’sperienced,” returned
+Pickles. “An’ I don’t want no moah ub dem!”
+
+“We are not yet out of danger,” urged Harry. “An extra-heavy puff of
+wind may come along at any time and carry us over.”
+
+“That’s so,” returned Jack. “Come on, boys, let’s get off and push the
+boat over to the west shore, where I guess we will find a solid strip
+to pass along on.”
+
+His companions were not slow to follow his advice. They lost no time
+in moving the iceboat back a distance of forty or fifty yards, and,
+feeling comparatively safe here, they stopped long enough to get out
+their skates and put them on.
+
+Thus equipped, it was easy to haul the craft around, and, getting
+behind her, they took turns in pushing her over toward the west shore,
+where, as Jack had supposed, there was a strip of ice all of fifty
+yards wide, leading to the solidly frozen river beyond.
+
+“We want to be on the lookout for such places as this,” remarked Harry,
+as they boarded the _Icicle_ once more, and hoisted the sail, which was
+now sadly torn in half-a-dozen places. “If it hadn’t been for Pickles
+we might all be at the bottom of the river this minute.”
+
+And he gave the colored youth a grateful look, which caused Pickles to
+grin from ear to ear.
+
+After that two of the boys remained at the bow, straining their eyes to
+see ahead.
+
+But this extra caution was now hardly needed. Owing to the torn
+condition of the mainsail, the _Icicle_ did not move as rapidly as
+before, and presently, when the wind died down a trifle more the clumsy
+craft came to a complete standstill.
+
+“Humph! Here’s a state of things!” muttered Andy, impatiently. “And we
+are still two or three miles from Rudd’s Landing. What’s to do?”
+
+“Get on our skates again and push the _Icicle_ along,” suggested Jack.
+
+“Boxy, you whistle for a wind, you are such a whistler,” laughed
+Harry, who, as there was no danger attached, was disposed to view the
+condition of affairs lightly.
+
+“I’m afraid I’d have to whistle a pretty long while,” returned Boxy.
+“My idea is that the wind has gone down for the night, as it frequently
+does.”
+
+“Dat’s it, persackly,” put in Pickles. “But I jess as lief shobe de
+_Isticle_--I’se all cold to de marrer ub my bones.”
+
+“So am I,” cried Jack. “I’m going to push just to get warm. You had
+better stay on board if you feel played out,” he added, to his brother.
+
+“No, I’ll get off, too,” replied Andy. “But I don’t believe I can
+shove very much; my head hurts a bit again.”
+
+Once more all hands sprang down and donned their skates. Then Pickles,
+Harry, and Jack began to push the iceboat before them, while Boxy and
+Andy followed on behind with the sled.
+
+It was now dark, and growing colder every minute, which was odd, so
+they thought, since the wind had gone down.
+
+“We won’t get that snowstorm to-night, that’s sure,” remarked Harry.
+“It is always warmer just before a heavy fall of snow.”
+
+“Maybe we’ll catch clear weather that’s cold enough to freeze the leg
+off a mule,” returned Jack. “Somebody said there was an intensely cold
+snap on the way.”
+
+“Oh, we’re prepared for cold all right,” put in Boxy. “All you’ve got
+to do is to move around lively like to keep up the circulation, and you
+are all right.”
+
+“Just the same I wish we were in Rudd’s Landing,” said Jack. “I don’t
+like this traveling on an unknown part of the river in the dark. We may
+not find the Landing at all.”
+
+“Pooh! How can we help it? We know just where it is along shore.”
+
+“Well, then, let us turn in a bit. There is no sense in keeping away
+out here in the middle.”
+
+“That’s so,” said Andy. “It may be warmer in toward the shore.”
+
+So they turned in the direction of the shore upon which was situated
+the town for which they were bound. The overhanging bank of the stream
+was fringed with bushes and trees and they skirted along just outside
+of these, keeping a sharp lookout for airholes and thin spots.
+
+“Don’t want a bath just now,” shivered Boxy.
+
+“No; a bath would just about do us up,” returned Andy. “As it is, I can
+hardly move along.”
+
+“We’ll be all right when we get to Barton Coils’ place,” called back
+Jack. “So don’t get faint-hearted, Andy.”
+
+On they went, with no sound breaking the stillness of the cold night
+save the grinding of the iceboat runners and their skates on the ice.
+
+Suddenly from out of the darkness among the trees which lined the
+farthest shore came a dismal howl that caused nearly every one to jump
+in alarm.
+
+“My gracious! what was that?” exclaimed Andy.
+
+“Dat mut be a ghost, suah!” cried Pickles, as he sprang away from the
+voice.
+
+“It’s the most unearthly sound I ever heard,” put in Harry.
+
+“And don’t you know what it is?” asked Jack, with a merry laugh.
+
+“No,” said Boxy. “What is it?”
+
+“Nothing more nor less than the bark of a fox. There it goes again.”
+
+“Goodness! I never knew a fox would get up such a dismal noise,”
+exclaimed Boxy. “Why, it’s enough to give one the creeps.”
+
+“Wait till you get into the woods on the other side of Rock Island
+Lake, and you’ll hear sounds to make your hair stand on end, I’ll
+warrant.”
+
+The barking continued for some time, and then came answering calls from
+several other locations.
+
+“They are tuning up to descend on some hen-roost, I imagine,” said
+Jack. “It’s a good way to get up their courage.”
+
+“I’d like to get a shot at one of them,” said Harry.
+
+“So would I,” burst out Boxy. “Can’t we get at them, Jack?”
+
+“It would take too long, I’m afraid. Andy couldn’t stand the waiting in
+the cold.”
+
+“Boxy and I might wait, and you fellows go on,” suggested Harry. “We
+will soon catch up with you.”
+
+“Yes, let’s do that,” burst in Boxy.
+
+The matter was talked over for a minute, and then it was agreed that
+Harry and Boxy should take the guns and remain behind a quarter of an
+hour, while the others pressed on for Rudd’s Landing, keeping close to
+the river bank they were now skirting.
+
+Seeing to it that the two guns were ready for use, the two would-be fox
+hunters set out across the river in the direction from which the first
+barks of the animals had proceeded. Meanwhile those on the _Icicle_ and
+the sled went ahead, and were speedily lost to view around a broad bend
+beyond.
+
+“It would be fine if we could get a fox apiece,” said Boxy, as they
+skated along close to one another. “We could keep the brushes as
+trophies.”
+
+“I guess we’ll be lucky if we get a good shot at one of them,” returned
+his companion. “Foxes are very sly chaps.”
+
+“Oh, I know that.”
+
+“Let us go up the river a bit, so as to get out of that wind. They can
+smell your scent if the wind is blowing from you to them.”
+
+They moved up the river about twenty yards, and then made a semi-circle
+toward the shore. Here they found a small creek, and up this they moved
+as silently as possible.
+
+“We must be getting close to one of the fellows,” whispered Boxy. “That
+sound came from this vicinity.”
+
+“Hush, Boxy, he may----”
+
+Harry did not finish, for at that instant a bark sounded so closely to
+them that both sprang back in alarm. A little open glade was before
+them, and directly in the center of it both boys discovered a silver
+gray fox, standing with one forefoot raised, listening for an answer to
+his call.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A LUCKY SHOT.
+
+
+Boxy was about to say something, but Harry quickly placed his hand over
+his companion’s mouth and motioned him to remain silent.
+
+Then he raised his gun, and pointed to Boxy to do the same.
+
+A brief interval of silence followed, and then, bang! went Boxy’s gun,
+before he had had time to take anything like a correct aim.
+
+The shot spread out over the fox’s head, and caused him to leap to one
+side in alarm.
+
+“Didn’t I hit him?” cried Boxy.
+
+Bang! went Harry’s gun. His aim was better than Boxy’s, and off limped
+the fox on three legs, the left hind one having received part of the
+charge of shot.
+
+“You hit him, even if I didn’t!” yelled Boxy. “But he’ll get away from
+us, I’m afraid!”
+
+“Hurry and load up!” cried Harry. “We can get him if we try.”
+
+They reloaded the guns with all possible speed, running after the fox
+as they did so. It was hard work with the skates on their feet, and
+just as they got the animal again in sight Boxy tripped and went down
+on his knees in a hollow.
+
+His gun went off as he tumbled, and the shot grazed the fox’s neck,
+causing a painful wound.
+
+The animal let out a yelp of rage, and turned to leap down into the
+very hollow into which Boxy had tumbled.
+
+“Shoot him, Harry!” cried the boy, in sudden terror. “He’s coming after
+me!”
+
+Boxy was partly right. As the fox reached the bottom of the opening
+he spied Boxy, and, feeling ugly, he did not attempt to get away, but
+sprang directly for Boxy’s face.
+
+It was a thrilling moment, for, though small, a fox is exceedingly
+savage when aroused, and with his long, sharp teeth can do serious
+damage.
+
+Boxy squirmed to one side, and the animal landed on his shoulder. He
+buried his teeth into the boy’s overcoat, snapping and snarling as he
+did so.
+
+Then a loud report rang out, as Harry fired. He was not over three
+yards away, and his aim was true. The fox received the greater part of
+the shot in his side, and, with a backward leap he tumbled over dead.
+
+It was several seconds before Boxy managed to scramble to his feet. He
+was as white as a ghost, and trembling in every limb.
+
+“Is he--he dead?” he gasped, as he surveyed the fox from a slight
+distance.
+
+“I guess he is, but there is nothing like making sure, he is such a
+sly creature,” responded Harry, and, going up, he struck the head of
+the animal a resounding blow with the butt of his gun. “Yes, he’s dead
+enough.”
+
+“It was lucky you hit him,” went on Boxy, gratefully. “If you hadn’t he
+would have chewed me up.”
+
+“He was a tough customer, and no mistake,” rejoined Harry. “See what a
+splendid white tail!”
+
+“He’s a pretty big one. Will you take him along as he is?”
+
+“I’ll have to; I can’t skin him here very well. Do you want to go after
+another?”
+
+Boxy gave a shiver.
+
+“Not to-night,” he returned. “I’ve had enough hunting for the present.
+It’s something a fellow has got to get used to.”
+
+“I doubt very much if we could get another,” remarked Harry. “The shots
+have probably scattered them from the neighborhood. They know what a
+gun will do just as well as we.”
+
+Harry brought out a string from his pocket, and with this tied the dead
+fox to the barrel of his gun, which he slung over his shoulder.
+
+“Our quarter of an hour is up and more,” remarked Boxy, as they turned
+to go back to the river. “The others must be close to Rudd’s Landing by
+this time.”
+
+“I guess you are not as cold as you were,” laughed Harry. “I feel as
+warm as toast now.”
+
+“Yes, such an adventure is enough to stir up any one’s blood,” rejoined
+Boxy, dubiously. “But I’d just as lief remain a bit cold hereafter.”
+
+“You may expect greater adventures than this when we get to our winter
+camp, Boxy. Supposing that fox had been a bear, or even a big wolf?”
+
+Boxy did not reply to this. Somehow, just then the camping out did not
+seem so much sport after all.
+
+They were soon on the river, and, crossing to the other shore, started
+after their companions.
+
+It was growing colder every moment, and the breeze on the ice, little
+as it was, went through them like a knife. They were glad enough when
+they saw numerous lights ahead, which they knew must be the town for
+which they were bound.
+
+Presently they came upon a party of skaters, and from them learned that
+the _Icicle_ had passed on but a few minutes before. They kept on, and
+just before Barton Coils’ boathouse was reached, they overtook their
+companions.
+
+“Got a fox, sure enough!” cried Andy. “Who shot it?”
+
+“Harry, and he saved my life doing it,” replied Boxy, and, hardly
+waiting to catch his breath, he told his story, to which those who had
+gone on ahead listened with keen interest.
+
+By the time Boxy had finished, the boathouse, at which the _Icicle_
+was to be left, was reached, and, leaving the iceboat and the sled in
+a safe place, all hands rushed into the building to warm up around the
+red-hot stove, which to them looked to be just then the most inviting
+thing in the world.
+
+Barton Coils, a jolly man of forty, received them cordially, and soon
+made them feel at home.
+
+“I’ll bet ye had a most uncommon cold run of it,” he said. “And a cup
+of hot coffee will be just the thing to warm your inwards, eh?” and
+he straightway set about preparing, not only coffee, but a whole hot
+supper for them in his tiny kitchen in the rear.
+
+By the time supper was ready, they were somewhat rested. They crowded
+around his small table like so many famished wolves, and it was
+astonishing to see how rapidly the food disappeared. Luckily, he had
+sufficient on hand, so no one went short.
+
+Barton Coils took a lively interest in the proposed expedition, and
+declared he almost wished he was one of the party.
+
+“It would make me feel ten years younger,” he said.
+
+“Why can’t you go?” asked Jack. “I am sure we would all be pleased to
+have you along.”
+
+“I can’t leave here, that’s the trouble,” returned the boathouse
+keeper. “Otherwise, I would accept your kind offer in a minute, I
+would, indeed.”
+
+He asked them about their traps, and told them of several additional
+things it would be best to take along. Andy made a note of the
+articles, and before retiring went up into the town and procured them.
+
+“You’ll find your _Icicle_ all right when you come back for her, never
+fear,” said Coils to Jack.
+
+“I know we shall,” said Jack. Then he began to talk to the others, and
+they all nodded in the affirmative. “See here, we have a proposition to
+make,” he went on. “There is no use allowing the iceboat to remain idle
+during our absence, and we have decided to let you hire her out to the
+town folks if you will. Whatever you can get that way will be yours.”
+
+“Well, boys, I didn’t expect this.” And Barton Coils smiled his
+gratitude.
+
+“It will be better to keep the runners scoured up than let them grow
+rusty. But the sail will have to be mended.”
+
+“I’ll fix that all right; and much obliged to you all,” replied the
+boatkeeper.
+
+There was a large spare room over the boathouse, and in this the boys
+spent the night, lying on the floor in their blankets in true camping
+style. Barton Coils would have given them a couple of old cots, but
+they declined these, for the reason, as Pickles put it, “dat da wanted
+fo’ to git ust to sleepin’ on de hard side of jess nowhere.”
+
+When the members of the Zero Club arose they found the day as clear as
+could be wished. The sun was just peeping over the distant hills and
+not a breath of air was blowing.
+
+“Boom-a-rah! boom-a-rah! boom! boom! boom!” sounded out Boxy, imitating
+a big drum. “All up, for there is no time to lose if we want to reach
+the shores of Rock Island Lake before nightfall.”
+
+“Right you are,” cried Jack. “Fold up the blankets and make your
+toilets just as quickly as you can. Pickles can see to the repacking of
+the sled, while I hunt around for breakfast.”
+
+“Breakfast is all ready!” put in Barton Coils, poking his head up the
+ladder-way. “I was just going to rouse you out.”
+
+In a jiffy one and another made their toilets, and climbed down into
+the kitchen. The smell of the buckwheat cakes filled the apartment, and
+a big platter of them were ready to be eaten, along with some maple
+syrup fresh from the grove back of the landing.
+
+“Here’s where I am struck right in my soft spot!” cried Andy. “I’ll
+miss the buckwheat cakes, if nothing else!”
+
+“Then you had better fill up well,” laughed Barton Coils. “Here you
+are, smoking hot! Who’ll have the next?”
+
+Forks and knives were clattering right merrily for the next ten
+minutes. The buckwheat cakes were washed down with hot coffee and
+cream, and soon all were more than satisfied.
+
+Then came a farewell shake of the hand with the boathouse keeper, and a
+final inspection of their traps.
+
+“Now we’re off!” cried Jack. “Hurrah for the tour of the Zero Club!”
+
+“Hurrah! hurrah!” cried the others, and Barton Coils joined in, waving
+his towel over his head as he did so.
+
+Off they started, through the little town. The last house was soon left
+behind. Before them lay nothing but hills, woods and a frozen lake.
+Their outing in the ice and snow had truly begun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+JACK BECOMES LOST.
+
+
+“Dis am de most glorious trip wot ever was, by golly!” cried Pickles,
+as he shoved on ahead of the rest, dragging the sled behind him. “Dis
+coon is werry glad he is alibe jess about now, boys!”
+
+And in the exuberance of his spirits, Pickles broke out into an old
+darky refrain about the history and death of a wonderful “Blue-tail
+Fly,” the chorus to which was so catchy that they were soon every one
+of them singing it.
+
+“I’m glad he came along,” whispered Jack to Harry. “He’ll make days we
+can’t go out seem shorter.”
+
+“So am I, Jack, Pickles is just the fellow for this crowd.”
+
+The boys had received close directions concerning the best route to
+pursue to reach the lake, and they were careful that no mistake should
+be made. They followed a road almost half through what was called
+Jackson’s Run, and then struck off across a number of open fields to
+where a tiny stream ran at the foot of a long hill.
+
+“That creek empties into Rock Island Lake,” said Boxy. “I know, for I
+was up here once in the summer, and my uncle told me so.”
+
+“Then why can’t we follow the stream until we reach the lake,”
+suggested Andy.
+
+“We could do that if it wasn’t that the stream winds around so much,”
+put in Jack. “In a direct line the lake is not over twelve miles from
+here, but like as not that stream would take us thirty or forty miles.”
+
+“Not quite as far as that, but still a pretty good way,” said Harry. “I
+know these creeks around here twist and turn in all directions.”
+
+“We’ll stick by the original intention, and be guided by the sun,” said
+Boxy. “Come on, Harry, I’ll race you to the top of the next hill!” and
+off he sped, with Harry at his heels.
+
+When the top of the hill was reached both boys were well-nigh
+exhausted, and ready enough to sit down on a fallen tree and wait for
+the others to come up.
+
+“You shouldn’t do that,” remonstrated Jack. “You’ll tire yourselves out
+before you have covered half the day’s journey.”
+
+“And you’ll get sweated and take cold,” put in Andy.
+
+“If you feel so frisky, help Pickles with the sled,” went on Jack.
+
+“We will,” cried both Harry and Boxy, and they at once relieved
+Pickles, much to his satisfaction, for the pull up the hill had been by
+no means an easy one.
+
+And so, “cutting up like wild Indians,” as Jack expressed it, they
+continued on their tramp, up one hill and down another, crossing
+half-a-dozen tiny streams, and making their way through dense woods and
+thick patches of brush and heaps of rocks. Occasionally they roused
+up a squirrel or a rabbit, and once the loud drumming told them that
+partridges were not far off.
+
+Just before the noon hour Jack took his gun, and kept his eyes open for
+rabbits. It was not long before he shot two, and when they came to a
+halt for dinner these were quickly skinned and broiled over the fire
+Pickles kindled.
+
+“We want to be as saving as possible with our stores,” observed Harry,
+as he sat, sucking the meat from a rabbit leg. “We may get snowed in so
+that we can’t get out to shoot a thing.”
+
+“The first thing to do will be to lay in a supply of rabbits and
+squirrels,” returned Jack. “Then, if we get nothing better, we won’t
+starve, no matter what happens.”
+
+“That’s a good idea!” cried Andy. “Rabbit meat is better than nothing,
+even if you have it three times a day.”
+
+The meal finished, the things were quickly put away once more, and
+again the onward march was resumed.
+
+The character of the country now changed somewhat. The hills became
+higher and harder to climb, and the undergrowth more rugged. More than
+once they had to turn back and seek another path because they could not
+get through without carrying the sled and its load. Once they came to a
+deep ravine, all of ten feet wide, with no crossing place in sight.
+
+“Stumped!” cried Boxy. “Now what’s to be done?”
+
+“Let’s walk along this side for a few hundred feet,” suggested Harry.
+“It may grow narrower further up.”
+
+“I’ll stay here with the sled until you find out,” replied Jack, who
+had just taken hold. “It’s no use to pull it along, and then have to
+drag it back. If you find a place, yell out, and I’ll come.”
+
+Harry and Boxy went on, accompanied by Pickles. It was no easy work to
+follow the edge of the ravine, for in several places the ice and snow
+were treacherous, and ready to let them slide down should they venture
+too close.
+
+At last they reached a spot where the opening was scarcely five feet
+wide.
+
+“We ought to be able to cross here,” said Boxy.
+
+“Dat am so,” put in Pickles. “Why, I kin jump it, suah! See here!”
+
+And he made a wild leap over, and disappeared into a hollow filled with
+snow on the other side.
+
+“He’s gone!” shouted Boxy.
+
+“He’s all right,” returned Harry, as he saw Pickles’ woolly head slowly
+emerging from the drift.
+
+“By golly, I didn’t fink dat was so slopy heah!” sputtered the colored
+youth, as he stood up in snow to his waist. “If I hadn’t jumped so fah
+I’se dun reckon I would hab gone an’ rolled down to de bottom ob de
+crack suah!”
+
+“That settles it; we can’t cross here,” said Harry. “Let us go on a bit
+further.”
+
+They continued along the edge of the ravine, Pickles keeping up with
+them on the other side. Fifty feet further on the cut closed up almost
+entirely, and they easily stepped across.
+
+“This beats running any risk jumping,” said Harry, and Pickles readily
+agreed with him.
+
+All three of the boys set up a shout for the others, and it was not
+long before Jack and Andy appeared with the sled. The latter was lifted
+over the narrow opening, and then the club continued on its way,
+Pickles again bursting out into a song, this time singing about “Forms
+in White, a-Floating in de Sky.”
+
+“Just now it was a case of a form in black a-floundering in the snow,”
+remarked Boxy to Harry, and the latter laughed heartily over the joke.
+
+“We ought to be getting near to the lake now,” said Jack, about four
+o’clock in the afternoon.
+
+“That’s so,” said Andy. “If we get there much later than this there
+will be no time left to build a shelter for the night.”
+
+On and on they went, taking turns at dragging the sled with its heavy
+load. The sun was pretty well down, and it began to grow colder.
+
+“The lake, at last!” suddenly burst from Boxy’s lips, and he ran ahead,
+quickly followed by the others.
+
+Boxy was right. A short dash through a clump of trees, and they stood
+on the shore of Rock Island Lake. Before them was a broad expanse of
+glass-like ice, dotted here and there with long drifts of snow.
+
+“Hurrah!” they all shouted, and Pickles added: “An’ dis ends de day’s
+trabbels ob de Zero Club.”
+
+“Now for a good spot to pitch camp,” cried Jack. “I can’t say that I
+like it right here.”
+
+“No; it’s too cold,” returned Harry. “Let’s go back a little, say a
+hundred feet or so, and find some sort of shelter behind some rocks.”
+
+This was readily agreed upon, and the boys scattered in various
+directions, each trying to find a more suitable spot than the others.
+
+Harry struck out up the lake shore a bit, and presently came to a spot
+where two immense rocks leaned against each other over a little gully,
+scarcely a yard deep and two yards wide. The gully was dry, and filled
+with leaves, and he thought that if the snow was cleared out and banked
+up in front, it would be just the place they desired. The opening under
+the rocks was about ten feet deep, and the rear was choked up with
+fallen branches, brush, and dirt.
+
+He called to the others, and soon all but Jack were by his side.
+
+“That’s the ticket!” cried Boxy. “We couldn’t find a better place made
+to order.”
+
+“We can spread the rubber blankets over the leaves, and it will make
+good bedding,” said Andy.
+
+“An’ dat dar snow will keep out all de cold,” put in Pickles. “Yes, de
+prize goes to Harry fo’ findin’ de right spot.”
+
+“Where is Jack?” asked Harry, anxious to have all of the members of the
+club satisfied before it was settled to stay. “Maybe he has discovered
+a better spot.”
+
+They all set up a shout, and waited for an answer. But none came. Then
+they shouted again, with the same result.
+
+“That’s queer!” murmured Andy, somewhat disturbed. “Give him another
+call, boys, as loud as you can.”
+
+They did so willingly, and Boxy added his imitation locomotive whistle
+as well.
+
+It brought forth no reply. Jack was lost to them. What could have
+become of him?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+JACK’S EXPERIENCE.
+
+
+When Jack left the other members of the Zero Club to look for a
+suitable camping-place for the night, he had no intention of walking
+any great distance away.
+
+He struck down the lake shore, in a direction directly opposite to
+that taken by Harry, and at almost right angles to that pursued by the
+others.
+
+Jack walked probably fifty yards before coming to anything but a flat
+surface of snow and ice, with here and there a tree or a bush.
+
+“This is no good,” he murmured to himself. “I’ve a good mind to go back
+and try in the other direction.”
+
+Had he done so, he might have saved himself all the trouble that
+followed, and likewise saved the others from a deal of anxiety
+concerning his welfare.
+
+But Jack remembered that Harry had gone off in the opposite direction,
+and so he kept on until he reached a small rise of ground, beyond which
+was a dense thicket of great trees, some all of a hundred feet in
+height.
+
+“There ought to be a first-rate place among those trees,” he thought.
+“I’ll investigate a bit and see.”
+
+Jack walked in among the trees and soon located a spot between several
+tall maples that he thought would be just the thing. Five trees were in
+a semi-circle, and he calculated that by heaping the brush around them
+a temporary shelter that would be both safe and warm would be secured.
+
+He walked around the trees, and then to a spot a few yards away, where
+brush grew thickly.
+
+Here both the snow and the leaves were thick, and without warning he
+suddenly found himself sinking down in the midst of both.
+
+He tried to scramble to a place of safety, but it was too late and down
+he went into an opening that was all of ten feet deep. The leaves and
+snow tumbled with him, and he was all but smothered.
+
+When at last he managed to get his head clear of what was around him,
+he found himself up to his armpits in the mass, and almost powerless to
+move the lower portion of his body.
+
+Jack was not one to cry for help, so, for a while, he remained silent,
+doing his best to extricate himself from his difficulty.
+
+It was very cold down at the bottom of the hole, and, despite his
+exertions, he found himself gradually getting chilled to the bone.
+It was also dark, and this made his situation worse than had it been
+daylight.
+
+At last, in desperation, he wrenched himself away from the snow and
+rubbish, and freed himself as far as the waist. But higher than this
+he could not get, for every time he attempted it he only slipped back
+again.
+
+A half-hour was passed in trying to extricate himself, and by that time
+he was so worn out he was unable to make further effort.
+
+“This is the worst fix yet,” he muttered, to himself. “If I stay here
+I’ll be frozen to death before morning,” and he gave a shiver which was
+not altogether from cold.
+
+It was then that he began to shout for help. His voice was weak, and it
+is doubtful if it could have been heard thirty feet from his prison.
+
+A quarter of an hour more went by, and Jack was almost stiff. His feet
+were like two cakes of ice, and his ears pained him fearfully.
+
+“Where can the others be? Why don’t they come and help me out?”
+
+He asked himself these questions over and over again. But no answer
+was vouchsafed. It was as if the other members of the Zero Club had
+forgotten his existence.
+
+Presently Jack heard a rustle in the bushes in front of him. Was it one
+of the other boys on the hunt?
+
+Then a low growl made him start and strain his eyes in the direction.
+What was it, a fox, wolf or bear? He looked up at the entrance to the
+hole, but no animal showed itself.
+
+Again he yelled, this time not only to summon assistance, but also
+to scare away the beast, whatever it was. A crashing in the brush
+followed, and then dead silence.
+
+“He’s gone away,” he muttered, with a sigh of relief. “But who knows
+but what he’ll come back, or some other animal will meander this way.
+Oh, if I was only out of this hole I’d take precious good care that I
+didn’t get into another.”
+
+Ten minutes more--an age to poor Jack--and another rustle in the brush
+was heard. Then followed a shout:
+
+“Hullo, Jack! Where are you?”
+
+It was Harry’s voice, and it thrilled him with joy.
+
+“Here I am, in a hole,” he replied.
+
+But, alas! his voice was so faint that Harry did not hear it, and
+passed to his left and continued the search in that direction.
+
+“Help! help!” cried Jack, frantically. “This way! In a hole! Help!”
+
+Harry did not hear, but Andy, who was also close at hand, did, and
+shouted to the others:
+
+“He’s here, fellows! Come this way!”
+
+“Where?” asked Boxy and Pickles, in a breath, while Harry quickly
+retraced his steps.
+
+“Somewhere around here. Listen.”
+
+Again Jack called out, and now they were able to locate him. Andy was
+in advance, and his companions were amazed to see him disappear as
+suddenly as if he had taken a plunge in the water.
+
+“There’s a hole there. Be careful!” shouted Harry.
+
+“Dat mus’ be a b’ar hole!” put in Pickles. “Pooh Andy’s dun gone in it,
+too!”
+
+“Help us out!” yelled Andy, from beside Jack. “This is a sort of a
+cave-in, and Jack is half buried under the dirt and snow.”
+
+“We’ll have to get the rope and haul them out,” remarked Boxy. “Run
+back for it, Pickles.”
+
+The colored boy skipped off at top speed. While he was gone, Boxy and
+Harry skirted the opening with great care, and found the most available
+standing place.
+
+When Pickles returned, he brought with him the sled rope, and also the
+one used for tying on the load. These were twisted together, and, not
+without some difficulty, Andy was raised up.
+
+Then came the work of raising Jack. This was no easy task, for the poor
+fellow was almost too exhausted to even catch hold of the rope.
+
+“We’ll make a loop, and he can slip it under his arms,” suggested his
+younger brother, and this was done, and presently Jack stood beside the
+others, supported by Boxy and Pickles.
+
+“Take me to some place where I can get warm!” he gasped.
+
+“We’ll run you back to the place where the sled is and cover you up
+with blankets,” replied Boxy. “Come on, it’s the best thing for you.”
+
+And off he and Pickles started, with the half-frozen boy between them.
+
+Harry and Andy ran ahead and worked like lightning to gather dry brush
+and start a fire in the shelter of several trees. It was not long
+before they had a big blaze, and Jack was seated on the sled in front
+of this with several blankets thrown over his back.
+
+“I’ll be all right in a little while now,” he said. “So you fellows had
+better turn your attention to locating a camp for to-night.”
+
+“Harry has found a place,” said Boxy. “It’s just the thing, between a
+couple of big rocks.”
+
+While Andy remained behind to keep up the fire and prepare supper,
+Harry, Boxy and the colored youth went off to prepare the camp.
+
+“We’ll take all the snow out first,” said Harry. “Then we’ll make a
+wall in front, with only a narrow opening to get in, and shut up the
+back as tightly as we can.”
+
+The three boys went to work with a will, and inside of half an hour the
+temporary camp was ready for occupancy. The sled was drawn inside, and
+the rubber blankets spread around, and then the fire was transferred to
+a spot directly in front of the opening.
+
+“That will keep us warm, and also keep wild animals from bothering us,”
+said Harry.
+
+“Yes; we want no wolf or bear to wake us up by biting off an ear or a
+foot,” laughed Boxy.
+
+“Gee, shoo, no!” put in Pickles. “Dat would make dis yere coon turn
+white, ’deed it would!”
+
+Just before they had reached the lake, Boxy, anxious to prove that he
+wasn’t such a poor shot that he couldn’t shoot anything, had gone off
+in search of a partridge, and succeeded in bringing down one of fair
+size. This Andy had prepared as nicely as possible, and, with bread and
+tea, made a most appetizing supper for the hungry boys.
+
+“This is the last of the fresh bread,” remarked Andy, as he dealt it
+out. “After this we’ll have crackers instead.”
+
+“Just as good,” returned Boxy, but before the tour was over he was
+compelled to change his mind.
+
+The supper over, the boys found it growing late. They gathered some
+wood and heaped it upon the fire in such a way that it might burn the
+greater part of the night, and then sought to retire.
+
+“We want to be up early in the morning,” remarked Jack, who now felt
+quite recovered. “It looks a little like snow, and we want to strike a
+permanent camp before it lets down too heavily.”
+
+“Well, I’m ready to go to sleep,” returned Boxy. “And I won’t even ask
+Pickles to sing a lullaby for me.”
+
+One after another the boys crawled into the cave-like sleeping place,
+and selected their various corners. Andy brought in a pine knot, all
+ablaze from the fire, and held it aloft so that they might see if all
+was right.
+
+A second later Pickles gave a yell, which was followed by a cry of
+fright from every one of the others. Then a hasty scramble was made for
+the outside, the boys fairly tumbling over each other in their efforts
+to escape.
+
+And small wonder, for the interior of the cave-hut was alive with
+snakes!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A FIGHT WITH REPTILES.
+
+
+“Snakes!” yelled Pickles. “Fo’ de land sakes, let dis chile git out!”
+
+“Snakes!” echoed each of the others. “We can’t stay in here!”
+
+And in less than half a minute every one was outside and several yards
+away from the entrance to the temporary camp.
+
+“Whoever dreamed of the reptiles being there!” burst out Boxy.
+
+“We might have known it,” put in Harry. “Snakes always live around
+rocks.”
+
+“But why didn’t we see them first?” questioned Andy.
+
+“They were out of sight and half-frozen,” responded Jack. “I suppose
+our moving around and the heat from the campfire roused them up.”
+
+“Wot we gwine to do?” asked Pickles, dolefully. “I wouldn’t go back dar
+fo’ a billion dollars in cash, by golly, I wouldn’t!”
+
+“The blankets and the sled are in there,” put in Andy. “We must get
+them.”
+
+“Yes, we can’t even locate another camp until we have them,” said
+Harry. “We’d freeze to death without covers.”
+
+“I move we fight the snakes and kill them,” remarked Jack. “I don’t
+believe they are very harmful.”
+
+“They may be rattlers!” said Boxy, with a shiver. “And I don’t want to
+‘climb the golden stair’ just yet.”
+
+“I doubt if they are rattlers,” returned Jack. “And even so, they are
+not yet warm enough to show much fight. The likelihood is that we can
+kill them off without much trouble.”
+
+The boys talked the matter over, and at length decided to make an
+attack on the snakes, and thus at least gain possession of their traps.
+Then if the cave-hut still looked “snaky” they would hunt up a new spot
+in which to spend the night.
+
+Each of the boys provided himself with a torch and a club, and then the
+opening to the place was enlarged to twice its size.
+
+Jack was the first to enter, and the others came closely behind him.
+
+The leader quickly killed the first snake to raise its head, and Harry
+followed with the death of the largest of all of the reptiles. Then
+torches were stuck up in convenient places and the battle began.
+
+At first the snakes were easy victims, but soon the noise and the
+deaths of their fellows roused up those that remained, and a loud
+hissing and a lively squirming told that they were angry.
+
+They darted to one side and another, and more than one attempted to
+strike the boys with its fangs.
+
+Harry had the most startling experience of all. A snake dropped from
+a crevice overhead and landed directly on his neck. The sensation
+shocked the boy, but he was quick to act. He caught the snake by the
+tail, swung it around, and dashed its head with all his force against
+the solid walls of the hut-cave. The reptile was instantly killed.
+
+Andy also had a thrilling experience, a snake winding itself around his
+ankle, and refusing to loosen itself even when caught back of the neck
+by the courageous boy.
+
+“Hop out and hold him over the fire a second,” cried Jack.
+
+Out on one foot went Andy, still holding tight to the reptile. When
+close to the fire, he let go, and thrust the foot over the flames. On
+the instant the snake straightened out and fell into the fire, before
+either the boy’s boot or his trousers were very much injured.
+
+At last the snakes were all either killed or driven off, and the boys
+took a breathing spell. They counted up the slain, and with the one
+consumed by fire, found they numbered fourteen.
+
+“That’s a pretty good many in one dose,” remarked Jack; “especially
+when some of them are pretty nearly three feet long.”
+
+“I never want to run across such a nest again!” shuddered Harry; and
+all agreed with him.
+
+“There were at least half a dozen that got away,” remarked Boxy. “I saw
+three crawl in between the rocks.”
+
+“So did I,” returned Andy. “We don’t want to put in any night in this
+place.”
+
+“By golly, no!” cried Pickles. “I dun radder tie myself up on de limb
+ob a tree and risk gittin’ freezed to deaf!”
+
+The sled and the blankets were hauled out of the hut-cave, and examined
+to see that no live snake was anywhere in hiding among them. Then they
+gathered around the fire to talk matters over.
+
+Jack mentioned the spot he had found among the tall maple trees just
+before he had fallen into the hole, and they decided that they would
+locate there for the night. Once more the traps, and a large portion of
+the burning brush, were removed, and they set to work with all speed to
+furnish themselves a resting-place.
+
+“Now, if this doesn’t turn out all right, we’ll bunk around the fire in
+the open,” said Jack, and the others said so, too.
+
+The extra blankets were tied up around the trees, and against these
+were heaped brush and leaves. Then the interior was cleaned up, and the
+rubber blankets put down once more.
+
+The work took less than half an hour, and when it was completed the
+boys had a camp that if not quite as warm as the other might have been,
+was still dry and sheltered.
+
+“We’ll build an extra large fire, and that will keep us warm,” said
+Andy.
+
+“Yes, but we don’t want to wake up an’ find ourselves burnt to deaf,”
+cautioned Pickles.
+
+“That’s so,” put in Jack. “Be careful that the leaves are cleaned away
+around the brush before you build the fire too high.”
+
+Once again brush was gathered, and the fire fixed to everybody’s
+satisfaction, and then all hands retired into the new camping hut, and
+sought their various places of rest.
+
+It was a strange experience to all of them, and it is doubtful if any
+of them slept, saving by fits and starts, until toward morning. The
+fight with the snakes was still in their minds, and, as Boxy aptly put
+it, “they could see snakes just as plainly as if they had been off on a
+spree.”
+
+Pickles was the first to stir himself in the morning, while it was
+yet dark. The colored boy sat up, and, seeing his companions still
+slumbering, decided to go out, start up the fire and begin preparing
+breakfast without disturbing them.
+
+He arose to his feet, and, throwing down his blanket, stepped over to
+the entrance to the hut. Then a low cry of surprise escaped him, a cry
+that made all of the others open their eyes.
+
+“What’s the matter?” cried Harry.
+
+“It’s dun gone an’ snowed de fiah cl’ar out ob sight!” returned Pickles.
+
+“Snowed the fire out of sight is good,” laughed Boxy. “Well, let’s
+hustle and shovel it in sight again, for it’s as cold as the North Pole
+in here!”
+
+“And it’s colder yet outside,” replied Jack, looking out of the doorway
+Pickles had opened. “The snow is coming down lively, boys, and we must
+lose no time if we want to get across the lake and settle down.”
+
+Every one was soon outside, Boxy and Andy with their blankets still
+drawn around them. Both were used to sleeping in heated bedrooms, and
+the cold seemed to pierce them to the very marrow of their bones.
+
+“Hustle around to start up the fire, and that will warm you up,”
+suggested Harry. “Come, everybody pitch in, for it’s half-past seven,
+and we want to be on our way by eight o’clock, or a little after.”
+
+They did pitch in with a will. While Pickles, Boxy, and Andy started up
+a big, lively blaze, and got together something to eat, Jack and Harry
+took down the blankets and packed the things on the sled.
+
+Presently Pickles slipped off down to the lake, taking the ax and a
+spear with him.
+
+“He’s gone to spear a pickerel or some other fish,” said Boxy, and he
+was right, for it was not long before the colored boy returned with a
+beauty, weighing all of a pound and a half, which was soon broiling
+over the flames.
+
+It was still snowing, and the boys had to fairly brush the flakes from
+what they were eating during the meal. Jack calculated that already
+three inches had fallen on the level.
+
+“And before night we’ll have a foot or two of it unless it clears off,”
+he added. “So be lively, fellows!”
+
+“Can we skate over the lake?” questioned Andy.
+
+“That would be much easier than walking.”
+
+“Yo’ can skate ober all right,” replied Pickles. “De wind has dun kept
+mos’ ob it cl’ar, ’ceptin’ in spots.”
+
+“Oh, but this is fine fish!” cried Boxy. “Pickles, you mustn’t forget
+that you promised to show me how to spear them.”
+
+“So I will, when we gits ober to de reg’lar camp,” replied the colored
+youth, smiling broadly at the praise bestowed.
+
+By quarter-past eight they put out the fire, placed the last of the
+things on the sled, and set out. Down on the surface of the lake they
+found a cold wind blowing from the northwest, and the snowflakes
+appeared to be thicker than ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+LOST IN THE SNOW.
+
+
+As they had done the day previous, they took turns in drawing the sled,
+which, fortunately, rode over the surface of the ice easily.
+
+Pickles was the first to try a hand. Jack and Harry went on ahead,
+while Andy and Boxy came close behind the traps.
+
+All of the boys had their collars turned high up and their caps pulled
+well down. Yet the snow crept in, and more than once they could
+scarcely see ahead of them.
+
+“It’s not going to be such a bang-up, pleasant trip across, to my way
+of thinking,” remarked Jack. “The snow is coming down heavier every
+minute.”
+
+“Well, we’ll make a beeline for the opposite shore,” returned Harry.
+“If we keep on pushing like this, we ought to make it by a little after
+noon, and that will give us plenty of time to select a spot for a
+permanent camp before night comes.”
+
+“That’s true.”
+
+“There is one thing we must guard against, and that is airholes. This
+drifting snow is apt to cover them so a fellow can’t see them until it
+is too late.”
+
+“We’ll keep our eyes peeled,” returned Jack, and he called out
+instructions for those behind to do the same.
+
+On and on they went, keeping the straightest line they could without
+anything to aid their eyesight. It was still colder as they got farther
+from the shore, and occasionally a blast of wind would nearly take them
+from their feet.
+
+“There is one thing we forgot to bring along, and that’s a compass,”
+said Harry. “It’s a pity, too! If we had it the way need not bother us
+in the least.”
+
+“I thought of it yesterday, after we had left Rudd’s Landing. But I
+hated to go back after one.”
+
+Once or twice a flock of wild birds would circle over their heads in
+the snow, and they would take a shot at them. In this manner they
+brought down ten of the creatures, which, though small, would make
+dainty eating. Jack and Harry placed them in their bags, and continued
+to keep their eyes open for more.
+
+About ten o’clock the wind began to blow stronger than ever. It was
+little short of a hurricane, and took the boys fairly off their feet.
+
+“By golly! dis ain’t no picnic, am it?” cried Pickles, as he went
+sailing up the lake, unable to stop himself.
+
+“Lower your sails, Pickles!” cried Boxy, who looked at the difficulty
+in the light of a joke. He had to dig his heels deep into the ice to
+keep himself from following the colored youth.
+
+Jack was drawing the sled. A dozen times it swung around, and just as
+he thought he had it right, the wind got under it, and over it went in
+a trice, spilling off several things that had not been packed on well.
+
+With much trouble the sled was righted. Pickles fought his way back,
+and helped tie the traps fast, this time making sure that not a single
+thing was left loose.
+
+“It won’t do to lose even a plate,” said Andy. “For there are just
+enough for the crowd and no more.”
+
+“If this keeps on, we’ll have a blizzard!” gasped Harry. “It fairly
+takes one’s breath away!”
+
+“Have to keep your mouth shut or you’ll swallow a lot of snow, too!”
+put in Boxy. “By the looks of things around us, one would imagine we
+were out on the plains of Montana!”
+
+“The best thing we can do is to stop talking and fight our way to the
+shore,” remarked Jack, seriously. “The first thing you know, we’ll be
+turned around, and we won’t know in what direction the shore is.”
+
+Once again they moved forward. The snow beat on the right sides of
+their faces and filled their right ears, and, unconsciously, they
+turned a little away, and thus took a course which led them partly up
+the lake instead of directly across.
+
+By twelve o’clock they were nowhere near the woods they knew was beyond
+the edge of the lake. All around them were ice and snow. The wind had
+let up a bit, but the snow was whirling down thicker than ever.
+
+“I’m getting played out,” said Andy.
+
+“And I’m hungry,” added Boxy.
+
+“And I’m a bit of both,” put in Harry. “Let us rest a few minutes and
+have a bite to eat.”
+
+Pickles was more than willing, and at once went to work to get out
+crackers and cheese. Jack looked on with a doubtful face.
+
+“We’ll have a bite, but don’t waste time resting,” he said. “We must go
+on, or night will overtake us while we are still on the lake.”
+
+“Why, it’s only twelve o’clock!” cried Andy.
+
+“That’s so, but the shore is still a good way off, and if we get
+lost----”
+
+“Oh, we won’t get lost,” put in Boxy. “We all know just where the shore
+is.”
+
+“And where is it?” questioned Jack, still more seriously.
+
+“Right over there,” and Boxy pointed with his arm.
+
+“Why, no, it’s over in that direction,” cried Andy, pointing nearly at
+right angles with Boxy.
+
+“You are both wrong,” put in Harry. “It’s over here,” and his arm went
+up in still a third direction.
+
+“Boxy am right,” said Pickles.
+
+“I am inclined to think Harry is right,” remarked Jack.
+
+“But didn’t we come that way?” insisted Boxy, in surprise.
+
+“Yes, we came from that way, but we have been turning our backs to the
+wind, and going up the lake instead of across.”
+
+“Maybe the wind has shifted.”
+
+“I doubt it,” said Harry.
+
+“I don’t believe the wind has shifted much,” said Andy. “But I was sure
+the shore lay off in that direction. Jack is right, we had better be
+moving off without delay. We don’t want to get lost in this snowstorm
+out here on the lake.”
+
+They all agreed to this, but in what direction should they turn?
+
+It was finally decided to try the course Harry and Jack advocated, as
+they were looked on as natural leaders of the party.
+
+The remainder of the crackers and cheese brought out by Pickles was
+quickly eaten, and they set off.
+
+It was growing cooler again, and the wind blew the snow in blinding
+masses into their faces. Onward they skated, until the drifts became
+almost impassable.
+
+“I can’t skate through this!” cried Andy, at last.
+
+“Let us take our skates off and walk,” suggested Boxy.
+
+But Harry and Jack quickly vetoed this. It was just as easy to plow
+through the snow on skates, and it was easier to skate over the clear
+patches of ice than walk.
+
+So they kept on their skates, and thereafter Jack helped his younger
+brother whenever Andy seemed in danger of pegging out.
+
+“My ears are all but frozen,” said Boxy, at last. “My right one has no
+feeling in it any longer.”
+
+“Rub snow on it,” suggested Harry. “And rub it on hard, too,” and he
+showed his companion how to do it.
+
+“Dis am de werry worst trip I eber tuk,” declared Pickles, solemnly.
+“An’ I won’t take anudder in a long, long while.”
+
+“If we could only see away ahead,” said Jack; “but the snow hides
+everything fifty feet off.”
+
+“And the storm is growing wilder every second,” added Andy.
+
+“This will knock out hunting for a day or two, even if we strike a
+camp,” declared Boxy, breathing heavily, to keep up with the others.
+
+“Oh, it will be all right if it stops snowing and the sun comes out,”
+returned Jack, as cheerfully as he could.
+
+“By golly! it looks like it would snow fo’ a week!” cried Pickles.
+“Jess look how thick it am comin’ down now! Jess like somebody was
+a-shakin’ out a fedder-bed ober our heads!”
+
+Pickles was right. The snow was now coming down so thickly that it
+seemed to fill every inch of the air. Their vision in every direction
+was cut off to but a few feet in front of them.
+
+“Stick close together,” urged Harry. “If we become separated we’ll
+never find each other again.”
+
+His timely advice was heeded and they bunched up so closely that they
+frequently took hold of each other’s arms.
+
+It was hard work to drag the sled now, and two had to take hold instead
+of only one.
+
+Finally they came to a long, solid drift of snow, all of six feet
+high, and two or three yards wide. Jack and Harry mounted to the top,
+and, despite the swirling snow and cutting wind, essayed to pierce the
+gathering darkness around them.
+
+It was useless. Nothing but snow and ice was to be seen. Night was
+coming on, and they were lost in the pelting storm!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+SETTLING DOWN IN CAMP.
+
+
+It certainly was a dismal outlook, lost on the lake in a howling
+snowstorm, and night coming on. Small wonder that all of the members of
+the Zero Club were filled with fear as to the outcome of the unexpected
+situation.
+
+The wind blew sharper than ever, cutting like a knife, and causing
+their teeth to chatter in spite of themselves. The snowflakes settled
+on their faces and had to be brushed off their eyebrows that they might
+see.
+
+“Here’s a state of things, and no error,” remarked Boxy, as he joined
+Harry and Jack in front of the big snowdrift. “Have we got to go
+through this?”
+
+“We’ve got to do something,” returned Jack, with a certain sort of
+desperateness in his voice. “If we stay out here much longer we’ll be
+frozen to death and buried in the snow!”
+
+“We must push on ahead--it’s our only salvation,” added Harry. “If we
+keep on in a straight line we are bound to fetch up somewhere sooner or
+later.”
+
+“We may walk clean up to the upper end of the lake,” said Andy, in a
+low voice. He was too exhausted to speak louder.
+
+“Well, that would be better than remaining here,” replied his big
+brother. “Come, fellows, brace up and put your best leg forward,” he
+went on, in an effort to cheer up their lagging spirits.
+
+Pulling and pushing the sled as best they could, they attacked the huge
+drift before them. In a couple of minutes they were on the other side.
+All had had tumbles, but to these they paid no attention.
+
+“By golly! but I would give all I kin rake an’ scrape togedder to be in
+a warm kitchen jess about now!” puffed Pickles. “My two feet dun got
+froze as stiff as two chunks ob ice!”
+
+“We’re all in the same boat,” replied Boxy. “I can scarcely drag one
+foot after the other.”
+
+“And I feel like sitting down and going to sleep,” put in Andy. “Let us
+rest.”
+
+“No! no!” rejoined his elder brother, quickly. “If you rested and went
+off into a doze you would never wake up again. We must keep on by all
+means!”
+
+And on they pressed, slowly and painfully, growing more weary at every
+step. The snow and wind continued, and it grew steadily darker. Would
+that awful trip across the lake never come to an end?
+
+At last, when they were about ready to give up in despair, Harry, in
+advance of all the rest, gave a joyous little shout.
+
+“The shore, boys!”
+
+“Where? where?” they cried out in chorus, and clustered around him.
+
+“Just off to our right. We have been walking along within fifty feet of
+it.”
+
+“Gracious, you don’t mean it!” exclaimed Boxy. “True enough, boys;
+come on to land and get a fire started!”
+
+Boxy set off as fast as he could on skates through the snow. The others
+followed, Jack and Pickles dragging the sled.
+
+They were soon off the lake and huddled in a group behind a number of
+trees and bushes, which afforded a fair shelter from the wind and snow.
+Here they paused to catch their breaths and gaze around them.
+
+“I imagine we are at least a mile above the spot we struck out for,”
+observed Jack. “But that doesn’t matter, so long as we have crossed the
+lake in safety. What shall we do, light a fire or hunt a place to camp
+for the night first?”
+
+“Let’s light a fire and get warmed up,” answered Andy. “I am sure none
+of us can do much in our present condition.”
+
+His idea was warmly seconded by the others, and soon a heap of brush
+was collected in a convenient spot and set on fire. They drew up to it
+as close as they dared, and warmed their chilled bodies. The sled load
+was again attacked, and crackers and cut-up smoked beef passed around.
+It was wonderful what appetites all hands had whenever the least sign
+of a meal appeared. It seemed they could eat all the time.
+
+Down in their hearts all were deeply grateful that the perils of a
+possible night on the lake were passed. They were certain that, had
+they been compelled to remain in that wind and snow, some of them would
+have perished.
+
+Jack and Harry were the first to declare themselves warm and
+comfortable once more, and, allowing the others to remain seated around
+the fire, they started off to locate some suitable spot where they
+might settle down for the balance of the outing.
+
+“We don’t want any more snakes’ nests,” remarked Harry, with a laugh.
+“One is a-plenty.”
+
+“Right you are,” replied Jack. “What do you say if we find a circle
+of trees and build a sort of hut? We can cut down a number of small
+trees with the ax and fill up the openings by twining in brush and then
+heaping up snow on the outside.”
+
+“Boxy was speaking of that sort of place. We will see what we can find.”
+
+They passed along the shore of the lake until they came to a small
+creek. They walked up the bank of this for a distance of a hundred
+feet, and suddenly Harry came to a halt.
+
+“How is that spot over to the other side?” he cried.
+
+“Just the cheese!” responded Jack.
+
+The place to which Harry had called attention was one where four trees
+stood in almost a square. Between the two trees farthest back and those
+to one side there was a mass of thick brush, while between the two
+trees on the other side were several large rocks, which had rolled down
+from a hill beyond.
+
+“We can build a hut there without difficulty,” said Harry.
+
+“That’s so. First we can clear out the square and pile it up on the
+rocks to the right. Then we can cut a few slender trees and brace up
+that brush in the rear and on the left. But how about a roof?”
+
+“We can cris-cross half-a-dozen poles in the lowest branches of the
+four corner trees and pile brush and leaves on top. That ought to make
+a good enough roof for the time we want to stay. The brush can be
+twisted pretty tight, you know.”
+
+They looked the spot over carefully for snakes, and, finding none,
+returned to the fire.
+
+“That ought to do first-rate,” said Boxy, when he had heard their
+report. “But we can never build that hut to-night.”
+
+“We can fix it up enough to sleep in,” returned Jack. “Come on. We will
+start another fire on the bank of the creek.”
+
+“It’s good it’s on the creek,” said Andy. “If a thaw comes up the water
+will have a chance to flow away.”
+
+“I dun racken we won’t hab no thaw jess yet!” put in Pickles. “It’s
+gwine to keep on a-snowin’ fo’ a month or moah!”
+
+Everybody laughed at this, and they pulled the sled off to the spot
+beside the creek. Here a second fire was built, and Pickles vowed that
+he was going to do all in his power to keep it going until they left
+for home.
+
+“To-morrow I’ll git some big knots ob wood an’ a log or two, an’ da’ll
+burn a week,” he said.
+
+It was now six o’clock in the evening, and they set to work with a will
+to clear out the space between the four trees selected to become the
+corners of the hut. The brush taken out was piled against the other
+bushes between the trees, and more cut from a distance away was also
+added.
+
+This work was performed by Andy, Boxy and Pickles. In the meantime
+Jack and Harry cut twenty-odd saplings, and trimmed them as much as
+necessary.
+
+The young trees were then taken to the cleared square, and four of them
+were put up to rest from corner to corner, about ten feet from the
+ground. When they were secure, ten of the poles were placed across the
+opening. Then brush was handed up and piled on, and a pole or two was
+fastened over the top to keep it from blowing away.
+
+“Now we’ve got a good enough roof for anybody,” said Jack, when the job
+was finished. “It’s not very fine-looking, but it will keep out the
+snow and a good bit of the cold, and that’s what we want.”
+
+Two of the remaining saplings were placed at right angles to make a
+small doorway alongside of one of the trees, and the others were taken
+inside to brace up the several walls of brush and stone.
+
+By the time all this was accomplished, it was after eight o’clock, and
+every one of the boys was completely fagged out.
+
+“Fix up the fire for the night and we’ll go to bed,” said Harry. “We
+have more than earned a night’s rest.”
+
+“You’re right,” added Boxy. “And don’t any one dare to wake me until
+eight or nine o’clock to-morrow morning.”
+
+“We haven’t named the Camp yet,” said Andy. “Let’s do that before we
+retire.”
+
+“It’s Camp Rest as much as anything,” replied his brother, and then and
+there the spot was so christened.
+
+Pickles lost no time in replenishing the fire. Then the sled, with all
+of the other traps, was dragged into the hut and a heavy blanket was
+fastened up over the doorway.
+
+It took the boys some little time to arrange themselves to their
+satisfaction, but, being so tired, they were not as particular as they
+otherwise might have been.
+
+Harry took a place nearest the doorway, with Jack close behind him.
+Pickles lay over in a corner by himself, and Boxy and Andy chummed up
+close in another corner.
+
+Soon every one was asleep, and not a sound save the heavy breathing of
+the boys, the singing of the wind through the tree branches and the
+crackling of the fire broke the stillness of the night. The thick snow
+still came down, but so softly it was not heard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+HUNTING FOR FOOD.
+
+
+It was Jack who was the first awake on the following morning. He lay
+for some time without moving, and then unrolled himself from his
+blanket and sprang up, just as Harry opened his eyes with a start.
+
+“Hullo, Jack! up already?”
+
+“I just got up, Harry. I guess it’s rather late.” Jack looked at his
+watch. “Great guns! quarter to nine! Rouse up, boys, day has broke, and
+more!” he cried.
+
+Soon every one in the hut was awake, and one after another they arose.
+Several had a light sprinkling of snow on their blankets, but the
+little that had sifted in had done no harm.
+
+“We’ll fix that to-day so not a spoonful shall come in hereafter,” said
+Jack.
+
+Pickles was the first to attempt to step outside. He uttered an
+exclamation of comical dismay.
+
+“By golly! de snow’s dun covered up de fiah most!” he cried.
+
+The colored youth was right. All about the fire, and also the hut, the
+soft covering of white lay to the depth of a foot and a half, and the
+cleared spot where the flickering embers lay had been narrowed down to
+a tiny circle.
+
+“We’ll clear the snow away between the hut and the fire first,” said
+Harry. “Pickles, you can start to get breakfast.”
+
+“Dat’s so, but what is we gwine to hab dis mornin’?” questioned the
+colored youth, soberly.
+
+“We must hunt up our breakfast,” said Boxy.
+
+“Let’s try to get a squirrel or two,” suggested Andy. “I saw a hole on
+one of the trees yesterday, close to where we built the first fire.”
+
+“All right; you and Boxy take the guns and see what you can scare
+up,” replied his brother. “Harry and I will go for rabbits, birds or
+whatever we can find.”
+
+Leaving Pickles to heap more brush and wood on the fire and set the
+water to boiling for coffee, the four boys split into two parties and
+set off.
+
+“We won’t be able to do much in this deep snow,” observed Harry to
+Jack, as the two pushed up the stream. “There won’t be much stirring.”
+
+“We might run across a hungry fox,” returned his companion. “They come
+out if they are hungry enough.”
+
+“Are they good to eat?”
+
+“Some say they are. I have never tried them, but I would eat fox meat
+in preference to starving, every time.”
+
+“Oh, so would I. But we are not starving yet.”
+
+“No, but there is no telling what may happen. It is true it has stopped
+snowing, but there is no telling how soon it may start up again.”
+
+“Well, I move we lay in as much as we can to-day,” said Harry, after
+a pause. “We’ll feel safer if we have something in the larder to fall
+back on. Besides, I get tired of crackers, cheese and smoked beef.”
+
+Walking through the snow was by no means an easy matter, and the two
+boys had not gone far when they found the exercise beginning to tell on
+them.
+
+Suddenly Jack touched Harry on the arm and motioned him to be silent.
+Both boys came to a halt, and the elder pointed over to his left.
+
+For fully ten seconds nothing was to be seen. Then from over a fallen
+log appeared a pair of long gray ears, followed by the head and body of
+a fat bunny.
+
+Bang! went Jack’s gun, and the old fellow leaped up in the air, ran a
+few steps and then fell dead.
+
+“Hurrah! you’ve the first one!” cried Harry, as both ran forward. “My!
+but he’s a whopper!” he added, as he took up the prize by the hind legs.
+
+“Yes, he’ll do very well,” returned Jack, with a smile of pardonable
+pride. “A few more like this and----”
+
+He broke off short. The discharge of the gun and their approach had
+started up two more rabbits less than a rod off. They were scampering
+through the snow at top speed.
+
+Harry took steady aim and fired. One of the bunnies was killed and the
+other seriously injured.
+
+“After him or he’ll get away!” yelled Jack, referring to the wounded
+rabbit, which was doing its best to drag itself out of sight in some
+brushwood.
+
+With a bound Harry ran forward and caught the animal when it was still
+a yard from cover. A blow from the gunstock settled its career forever.
+
+“That beats me,” said Jack. “Three rabbits is not bad. Shall we go back
+with them?”
+
+“We seem to have struck a good spot. Let us get what we can before the
+bunnies skip elsewhere.”
+
+So they went on, around the brushwood, and in among the trees in the
+vicinity. At first they saw nothing, but soon scared up three rabbits
+in a bunch.
+
+Bang! bang! went Jack’s and Harry’s guns simultaneously, and two more
+rabbits were added to their list. The third animal escaped unharmed.
+
+“That makes five,” said Jack. “We are doing famously, to my way of
+thinking.”
+
+“Let us continue,” returned Harry, with a good deal of excitement.
+
+This was outing sport and no mistake.
+
+So they went on, but no more rabbits appeared, nor did any other
+animals put in sight. They bagged half-a-dozen small birds, however,
+and then, with their game-bags well filled, returned to the camp.
+
+Andy and Boxy had just arrived. Each of them had shot a squirrel, and
+Andy had killed a third with a stick of wood. They had also secured
+nearly two quarts of hickory nuts from one of the squirrel’s nests.
+
+“Now we are fixed for several days,” declared Jack. “Let us save the
+rabbits and have a little squirrel on toast for breakfast.”
+
+“That’s it,” laughed Boxy. “Think of it, squirrel on toast! Delmonico’s
+an’t in it, eh?” and every one joined in the laugh.
+
+Pickles had not been idle. Water was boiling over the fire, and exactly
+five big potatoes--portion of the small mess brought along--were
+roasting in the ashes beneath. It was not long before the smell of
+newly made coffee and broiling squirrel filled the air.
+
+A portion of the fire was dragged directly in front of the entrance to
+the hut, making the interior as warm as the kitchen of a house, and
+then the five sat down to a well-earned breakfast and dinner combined.
+That they enjoyed every mouthful goes without saying.
+
+“Now, what’s the programme for to-day?” questioned Boxy, when he was
+about full.
+
+“At first let us give Pickles a chance to clean up, while we finish
+work on the hut and build a regular fireplace,” returned Harry.
+
+“That’s it,” added Jack. “Pickles can also tend to the animals we have
+killed, so they won’t spoil. The hut must be put into shape, so that it
+will stand the wind and any storm that may come along.”
+
+“I don’t think we’ll get any more snow,” said Andy, but the others
+shook their heads.
+
+It was no easy matter to start work in the deep snow which lay on all
+sides of the hut, but they went at it with a will, Boxy whistling
+cheerfully, and Pickles singing merrily as he washed the dishes and
+pots.
+
+More poles and brush were cut, and Jack, who had seen the thing done
+by hunters along the coast, showed how the brush could be twisted, one
+branch into another, until the sides of the hut were as tight as a
+wicker basket. They were braced by the poles, and then banked up on the
+outside, first by more brush and leaves, and then by snow.
+
+After the sides were finished, the roof was overhauled and made much
+tighter than before. The number of poles on the top were increased,
+until all was as solid as a city house.
+
+“Now we’ve got a hut worth living in,” cried Harry, as he surveyed the
+work done. “That will stay there for several seasons if not torn down
+by human hands.”
+
+“It’s a pity we are not going to stay longer,” grumbled Boxy. “Three
+days gone already!”
+
+“But three days are not two weeks,” said Andy, cheerfully.
+
+The hut finished, they tackled the fireplace.
+
+A dozen flat stones were sought for and found, and Jack showed them how
+a regular oven could be constructed. The uprights and the cross pole
+which had been used previously were allowed to remain, with the pot
+suspended over them, full of water.
+
+“It’s a good thing to have hot water any time you want it,” observed
+Andy, and the others agreed with him.
+
+By this time it was two o’clock, and they lost no time in preparing to
+go on the hunt.
+
+“How Pete Sully and the others would envy us if they knew how nicely we
+were situated,” observed Boxy.
+
+“I’ll bet they were mad when we left them to shift for themselves on
+the ice,” put in Andy. “We’ll have an account to settle with them when
+we get home.”
+
+“That’s so, but I’m not going to worry,” returned Harry. “Come on,
+fellows, let us see what we can start up between now and sundown.”
+
+And all together they started off on a hunt that was to be one of the
+most perilous of the whole outing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+CHASED BY WOLVES.
+
+
+After some discussion it was decided to follow the course of the creek
+upon which they had pitched their camp.
+
+This would aid them in several ways. It would prevent them from going
+astray and getting lost, and traveling was easier there than in among
+the trees and brush. Moreover, Jack was of the opinion that they would
+find more game along the creek side than elsewhere.
+
+Every one was in excellent spirits, and had it not been for a warning
+from Harry, Boxy and Pickles would have started to sing and whistle.
+
+“We will never get anything unless you remain quiet,” he said. “It is
+hard enough to stalk anything without a dog.”
+
+“Oh, I ought to have brought Leo,” burst out Boxy. “But Minnie wouldn’t
+hear of it. She said it was bad enough for me to go, without taking
+him.”
+
+“Leo isn’t a hunting dog, is he?” questioned Andy.
+
+“A kind of one. He hasn’t been trained very well.”
+
+“Then he would have been worse than none,” put in Jack. “A dog is no
+good unless he is thoroughly broken.”
+
+“My ole man’s dun got de dorg,” put in Pickles. “But he would radder
+gib me his suit of clo’s dan let me take Woppy away. He t’inks moah ob
+dat dorg dan he does ob me, a heap sight.”
+
+“We’ll get along all right,” replied Jack. “But we must--hullo! here
+are tracks in the snow!”
+
+“Hist! a rabbit, suah you boarn!” whispered Pickles.
+
+Up came his gun. A tremendous report followed, and the colored youth
+went over backward in the snow. The heavy charge in the firearm
+completely demolished the rabbit, which had been close at hand.
+
+“Did--did--I hit him?” gasped Pickles, as he scrambled to his feet with
+a wild stare in his eyes.
+
+“Oh, no, you didn’t hit him, you simply scattered him,” returned Boxy,
+doubled up over the sight Pickles had presented as he went over. “You
+knocked him into six million pieces.”
+
+“Dat so?” Pickles gazed ruefully at the tufts of fur lying about. “By
+golly! dat was a most terribul shot, wasn’t it?”
+
+“I should say it was,” returned Jack. “What made you load up so
+heavily?”
+
+Pickles scratched his woolly head.
+
+“I dun racken I loaded dat yere gun twice,” he said, slowly. “I loaded
+her up yisterday, an’ dis moanin’ I did de same.”
+
+A perfect howl of laughter went up, and it increased instead of
+diminished when Pickles went around looking for enough of the rabbit to
+take back to camp. He was unsuccessful.
+
+“Well, you can be thankful that the gun didn’t burst and send you to
+kingdom come,” commented Harry. “Next time be sure to fire off the gun
+before you load again.”
+
+“You kin bet I will,” returned Pickles, and he spoke the truth. All of
+his charges after that were somewhat light.
+
+A little distance farther on they came across several more rabbits.
+Jack brought down one and his brother another. All the other boys fired
+and missed.
+
+“We’ll have rabbits if nothing else,” observed Jack. “But I am in hopes
+we’ll strike bigger game.”
+
+“A bear, for instance,” said Boxy.
+
+“Well, no, not exactly. But a deer wouldn’t go bad.”
+
+“There ought to be deer around here,” said Harry. “Barton Coils said we
+would find some sure.”
+
+“I suppose they are getting scarcer every year. Maybe we will have to
+go away back in the mountains for them.”
+
+On and on they trudged, without another sign of a rabbit. But presently
+Harry drew attention to a squirrel hole, and a halt was made to see
+what it might contain.
+
+They all loaded up, and then Boxy threw a snowball into the hole.
+Nothing followed, and then another snowball and a stick of wood were
+launched at the hole.
+
+Instantly a squirrel’s head appeared; his lordship looked out to see
+what was the cause of the disturbance.
+
+Jack took quick aim and fired. The head disappeared, but whether the
+animal had been hit or not they could not tell.
+
+“I’ll climb up and investigate,” said Boxy. “I have an idea there is
+more than one squirrel in that tree.”
+
+“Yes, it looks hollow,” returned Harry. “Let me give you a boost up.”
+
+“Don’t you shoot me for a squirrel while I’m up there,” laughed Boxy,
+and up he started.
+
+“Humph! you don’t climb like a squirrel,” commented Andy, as Boxy
+gripped and twisted to gain the lower branches of the tree.
+
+It was a struggle to gain those lower limbs, but Boxy finally
+accomplished it, and began to poke into the hole with a stick. Almost
+instantly a couple of squirrels sprang out and darted past him, and out
+to where the branches of another tree hung close.
+
+One of the frisky animals made the leap in safety, and darted out of
+sight before those below could take aim at him.
+
+The second was not so fortunate. He hesitated for an instant, and that
+proved fatal. Harry’s gun spoke, and down he dropped at the young
+hunter’s feet.
+
+The shot, scattering through the branches behind him, frightened Boxy,
+who imagined that he was in danger of being hit, although such was not
+the case, as Harry was careful of what he was doing. The boy up at
+the squirrel hole shrunk backward, and then, to the amazement of his
+companions, disappeared entirely!
+
+“Hullo! what does that mean?” cried Jack.
+
+“Where in de world is dat feller gwine?” questioned Pickles, with his
+mouth wide open.
+
+“Who?” asked Harry, who had been paying attention solely to the
+squirrel.
+
+“Boxy has gone into a hole in the tree,” explained Andy. “Hullo, Boxy,
+crawl out of that!” he shouted.
+
+There was no reply. The boys stared at the tree and each other in
+wonder.
+
+“Maybe he has gone clear to the bottom,” suggested Jack.
+
+“I’ll climb up and see,” returned Harry. “Give me a leg up, quick! He
+may be smothering!”
+
+Jack assisted him, and Harry was soon up to where Boxy had been
+standing. Sure enough, there was a large hole, and Boxy was wedged into
+it at least seven or eight feet below the opening.
+
+“Help me!” gasped the unfortunate boy, in a thick voice.
+
+“Throw up a rope or a strap,” shouted Harry, to those below. “He is way
+down, and can’t help himself.”
+
+Several skate-straps, buckled together, were at once thrown up. Winding
+one end around his hand, Harry lowered the other.
+
+“Got it tight?” he asked.
+
+“Yes,” returned Boxy. “But I’m afraid you can’t haul me up--I’m wedged
+in that firm!”
+
+“I’ll see.”
+
+Bracing himself as best he could, Harry hauled away on the strap. The
+leather cut his hand a good deal, but to this he paid small attention.
+
+At first Boxy did not budge. Then, with a groan, he came up a few
+inches. A tearing sound, as of clothing, followed, and finally he was
+raised so that he could get his hands on the edge of the hole. Then he
+helped himself; and soon both he and Harry were down among the others
+again.
+
+Boxy’s coat was torn in half-a-dozen places, but he gave scant
+attention to that. He was very thankful that he had been pulled out of
+the tree-trunk alive.
+
+“Supposing I’d been alone when that happened?” he shuddered. “I was
+worse off than Jack in that pit on the other side of the lake.”
+
+“That shows the wisdom of keeping together,” said Jack. “After this we
+will make it a point to go out together, or, at least; in pairs--never
+alone.”
+
+The journey up the creek was resumed, and they kept on until at least a
+mile and a half had been covered.
+
+“Now I move we go back,” said Jack. “It is getting late. To-morrow we
+can start out early, for there will be nothing to do around the camp
+after breakfast, which we ought to have by seven o’clock.”
+
+The others were tired and readily agreed. They had not seen any deer,
+but had found a run, and they were certain that, sooner or later, they
+would strike one or more of the much-prized beasts.
+
+About a quarter of the distance to camp was covered, when, without
+warning, a doleful sound reached their ears, coming from directly in
+front of them.
+
+“What’s that?” asked Andy, as he came to a halt.
+
+“Wolves!” cried Jack. “I did not think there were any in this section!”
+
+“The heavy snow has driven them out to look for food,” put in Harry.
+“We may have trouble with them.”
+
+“We can shoot them,” said Boxy. “And they--here they come now!”
+
+Boxy had hardly uttered the words when from a thicket rushed five lean
+and savage-looking wolves, snapping and snarling as they came toward
+the boys.
+
+All fired their guns, and two of the wolves went down, mortally
+wounded. The others kept on, yelping and barking with increased
+savageness.
+
+“Run for it!” yelled Jack. “They will tear us to pieces if they once
+get at us!”
+
+And run they did, trying to load their firearms as they went.
+
+Soon the wolves were close at their heels!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE LAST OF THE WOLVES.
+
+
+It certainly looked as if matters would turn out seriously for the five
+boys. The three remaining wolves were close at their heels, and so far
+no one but Jack had succeeded in reloading his gun.
+
+The boys thought it odd that the three wolves did not stop to devour
+their dead companions. The truth was that every one of the savage
+beasts had received a portion of the scattering shot and was so enraged
+that it thought only of attack.
+
+As soon as he had his firearm ready for use, Jack wheeled about and
+took hasty aim.
+
+Bang! went the gun, and the foremost of the wolves keeled over, shot
+through the head.
+
+“Good for you, Jack!” panted his brother. “I wish I could knock another
+of them!”
+
+“Sling your guns over your shoulders and jump for the tree limbs!”
+called out Boxy, and an instant later he made a leap and drew himself
+up into a tree, where he was safe for the time being.
+
+Andy quickly followed his example, and Jack did the same. Harry was
+just finishing loading, and kept on running.
+
+The two wolves did not stop running, but went after Harry, snarling and
+yelping directly at his heels.
+
+Then, with a lightninglike movement, the brave boy swung around, and,
+without bringing his gun to his shoulder, fired almost directly into
+the open mouth of the leading beast.
+
+With hardly a sound, the wolf toppled over, knocking his companion down
+as he fell.
+
+This gave Harry a moment’s respite, of which the exhausted boy was not
+slow to take advantage.
+
+He came to a tree whose branches were scarcely seven feet from the
+ground, and, with a jump, landed in several of them. He managed to haul
+himself up just as the remaining wolf made an unsuccessful attempt to
+bury his gleaming teeth in his leg.
+
+But, alas! as Harry reached the branches in safety, his gun slipped
+from his hand, and went down into the snow under the wolf’s feet!
+
+He was now practically defenseless. And the worst of it was every one
+of his chums with their guns were at least a hundred feet or more away.
+
+“Here’s a fine mess!” he muttered to himself, as he looked down and
+surveyed the situation. “If I had that gun I could easily settle that
+fellow, but without it I can do practically nothing.”
+
+“Hullo, Harry! where are you?” sang out the voice of Jack, from a tree
+which was out of sight.
+
+“I’m up a tree and I’ve dropped my gun!” was the dismal response.
+
+“How about the wolves?”
+
+“They are all dead but one, and he is sitting under the tree waiting to
+make a meal of me.”
+
+“If there’s only one left I’ll soon finish him!” responded Jack,
+quickly. “Just wait till I load up again.”
+
+“Look out there!” suddenly shouted Boxy, from another direction. “Here
+comes another wolf!”
+
+A yelping from the woods left behind told that he was right. The beast
+stopped under the trees Boxy and Andy had climbed for safety.
+
+Presently both boys fired on him, and he was mortally wounded. With a
+yelp of pain almost human he dragged himself out of sight through the
+brush.
+
+“He’s cooked!” cried Andy.
+
+“Any more coming?” questioned his big brother, anxiously.
+
+“Not that we can hear,” replied Boxy, after a pause. “By the way, where
+is Pickles?”
+
+That was a puzzling question. In their excitement all of the members of
+the Zero Club had forgotten the negro youth.
+
+But they now had no time to think over the matter. Jack was determined
+to kill the wolf under Harry’s tree. He saw to it that his gun was
+ready for use, and then dropped down into the snow.
+
+He had hardly gone a dozen steps when the wolf saw him and made a rush
+forward. Taking hasty aim, Jack fired.
+
+The shot struck the wolf in the side, wounding him just sufficiently
+to make him still more ugly. He flew at Jack with wonderful ferocity,
+knocking the boy off his feet and sending him flat on his back.
+
+Through the tree branches Harry saw the disaster and his companion’s
+great peril. With a half-suppressed cry of horror he leaped to the
+ground and caught up his own gun.
+
+The wolf paused for a moment when he saw that he was to be attacked in
+the rear. Then he again turned and flew at Jack’s leg.
+
+But ere he could bury his teeth into the flesh Harry hit him a
+resounding crack on the side with the stock of his gun. The blow,
+delivered with all strength, knocked the wolf away several feet.
+
+Jack turned over and leaped to his feet. Then the wolf came at both
+boys.
+
+For about ten seconds it looked as if the boys would have a hard time
+of it. The wolf was wary and took no chances. He was watching for an
+opportunity to leap at the throat of one or the other.
+
+Finally he sprang at Jack, but just then came an unexpected shot from
+one side. It was so close it caused the wolf to drop almost at the
+boy’s feet. He gave a yelp, turned over once or twice, and was dead.
+
+They looked around and saw Pickles standing there, a smoking shotgun in
+his hands, and grinning from ear to ear.
+
+“Dat’s de time dat wolf got dun up fo’ keeps,” remarked the colored
+youth.
+
+“Good for you, Pickles!” cried Jack, gratefully. “You saved my life!”
+
+“Not as much as dat, I rackon,” returned Pickles. “Is dis de las’ ob de
+tribe?”
+
+[Illustration: “Jack wheeled about and took hasty aim.” See page 138.]
+
+“I believe so,” returned Harry. “Let us all load up and be on our
+guard. There may be more of the pack that haven’t yet arrived.”
+
+They followed this advice, and then walked back to where Boxy and Andy
+had been left. They were joined by the others, and then all five of the
+boys walked around to view their dead enemies.
+
+“Six wolves isn’t bad,” observed Jack, grimly.
+
+“That’s so,” returned Boxy. “But it isn’t exactly the kind of hunting
+we are looking for.”
+
+“The deep snow drove them out for food,” remarked Harry. “No doubt
+they followed up the trail of the dead rabbits and squirrels we are
+carrying.”
+
+It was decided to let the dead bodies lay where they were, Pickles
+cutting off their tails to secure the bounty offered by the authorities
+for the wolves’ extermination.
+
+It was long past daylight when the camp was reached. While the colored
+youth prepared the animals shot the others got supper ready.
+
+“Maybe you don’t know whar I was when dem wolves got after us,”
+observed Pickles, while they were working.
+
+“Where was you?” questioned Andy.
+
+“I hid in de stump ob a dead tree. I had my gun ready fo’ de fust wolf
+dat showed himself, but dat wolf didn’t cum. Da all knowed better dan
+to monkey wid de end of my old paralyzer.”
+
+“Pickles would have pickled him,” remarked Boxy, and then they all
+laughed.
+
+The boys were tired, but not sleepy, and as it was a clear, moonlight
+night, they sat around the campfire long after supper, talking and
+singing. Pickles got out his banjo, and made the woods ring with jigs
+and breakdowns, and the accompaniment to a ditty called “When the
+Cotton Am a-Bloomin’.” All joined in the chorus of the song, and they
+kept it up until ten o’clock.
+
+“Now, it’s turn in without delay,” ordered Harry. “Remember, we start
+off early to-morrow.”
+
+“If it don’t snow like fury,” put in Andy.
+
+“No more snow for a week,” said Boxy. “Just look, the sky is as clear
+as a bell!”
+
+“I wonder how things are at home?” went on Andy, suddenly.
+
+“Why, what put that into your head?” questioned Jack, turning to him
+quickly.
+
+“Humph! I was wondering the same thing,” remarked Harry.
+
+“Maybe somebody is getting homesick,” observed Boxy, and although
+he meant it for a joke, there was a little truth in the remark
+nevertheless, although not one of the boys would have admitted it for
+the world. Not that they wished to leave camp, only that they would
+like to have seen the family faces, if only for a brief moment.
+
+They soon forgot the idea, however, in the preparations to retire. They
+helped Pickles haul a log and some brush to the fire, and then carried
+the various traps to the hut.
+
+“Supposing a wolf comes here during the night?” said Boxy, suddenly,
+with a slight shudder.
+
+“Not likely,” rejoined Jack. “But you can sleep with one ear open if
+you wish.”
+
+“I will,” returned Boxy, and he did.
+
+Quarter of an hour later every one of the boys had sought his corner
+and made himself comfortable. Soon all of them but Boxy were asleep.
+
+Boxy tried his best to close his eyes, but in vain. He turned and
+twisted, counted a hundred, made himself a dead weight, and did
+numerous other things to induce sleep, but without success. He had a
+wakeful streak on, and when he dozed off it was not alone with one ear
+open, but with one eye also.
+
+Presently he started up and sprang to his feet. Was he mistaken, or had
+he heard something moving around outside? He listened intently, but no
+sound but the crackling of the fire reached his ears.
+
+“I would be willing to bet anything I heard a strange noise,” he said
+to himself. “I’m going to investigate, though, before I wake up the
+other fellows.”
+
+And with his blanket still around him, he stepped outside of the hut.
+
+A second later Boxy heard a long, low moan from the other side of the
+creek. He looked across in the direction, and then gave a yell of alarm
+that brought every one of his companions to his feet with a bound.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+WHAT COULD IT HAVE BEEN?
+
+
+When the others reached the outside of the hut they found Boxy staring
+wildly, his eyes fairly bulging from their sockets. His face was a
+deadly white.
+
+“What is it, Boxy?”
+
+“What do you see?”
+
+“Some wild animal, or what?”
+
+“A ghost!” gasped Boxy. “A ghost, as sure as fate!”
+
+“Where? where?”
+
+“Across the ice--it just disappeared behind the trees!”
+
+“There are no ghosts,” returned Jack, in disgust.
+
+“Certainly not,” put in Harry.
+
+“What did dat ghost look like?” asked Pickles, with interest. He was a
+firm believer in spirits.
+
+“It was tall and white, and had two horns on its head,” replied Boxy,
+with a shiver. “I never saw such a thing before in my life!”
+
+“You must have been dreaming,” suggested Andy, who took his brother’s
+view of the matter.
+
+“I wasn’t dreaming. I heard a noise and got up to see what it was. When
+I reached outside I heard a low, long moan, and I looked across the
+creek, and saw it just as plain as day.”
+
+“Must have been that extra-heavy supper that didn’t set well on your
+stomach,” commented Jack.
+
+“It wasn’t anything of the sort,” retorted Boxy, half angrily. “It was
+a ghost, or something like it. The moon was shining right on it.”
+
+“Maybe it was a man dressed in white,” said Harry. “One of the old
+deer-hunters from up in the mountains.”
+
+“A hunter wouldn’t go around moaning like a cow with the toothache,”
+returned Boxy.
+
+“Well, you don’t mean to say that you believe in ghosts?” asked Jack,
+plumply.
+
+“I never did before,” replied Boxy, evasively.
+
+“Well, let me tell you that there are no such things, never were, and
+never will be. Either you were dreaming, or the object was some man or
+some animal.”
+
+“Maybe you want to go after it and find out?” cried Boxy, quickly.
+
+“That’s just what I’m going to do.”
+
+“So am I,” added Harry. “We’ll take our guns and compel his ghostship
+to give an account of himself.”
+
+“You had better look out!” cried Pickles, nearly terror-stricken at the
+idea. “Dat ghost dun cotch you an’ you nebber be hurd ob no moah!”
+
+“Nonsense!” laughed Jack. “Which way did the thing go, Boxy?”
+
+“It moved up the creek and then back.”
+
+“Do you want to go along and show us the way?”
+
+Boxy hesitated, but to refuse would look too much like cowardice, and,
+somewhat against his will, he finally consented to accompany them. Andy
+said he would go, too, and, not to be left behind alone, Pickles joined
+the party, but on the lookout to run for life at the first sight of a
+ghost.
+
+Not a minute was lost by Harry and Jack, and once started, they set
+off on a run, Boxy between them. They were soon across the creek and
+hunting around the heavy brush and thicket of trees.
+
+But though they searched for the best part of half an hour, they
+discovered comparatively little. There were a few large tracks in the
+snow, but these were dragged so none could tell what sort of a walking
+object had made them.
+
+“Well, we might as well give up,” said Andy, at last. “I am mighty
+cold, rousing up out of a warm sleep.”
+
+They searched around a little while longer, and then one after another
+returned to the camp. Pickles replenished the fire, and signified his
+intention to sit up for the balance of the night. It was then a little
+after three o’clock.
+
+“I wonder what it could have been?” queried Harry, as he threw himself
+on his resting-place once more. “Boxy certainly saw something.”
+
+“Perhaps time will solve the mystery,” responded Jack, sleepily, and he
+was right. The near future solved it in a most unexpected manner.
+
+Boxy could not sleep at all after the excitement through which he had
+passed, and at five o’clock he left the hut to join Pickles by the side
+of the fire. He found the colored youth dozing away over the oven that
+had been built, and in great danger of having his woolly locks singed
+by the flickering flames.
+
+He roused up Pickles, and by a little after six both had a fine
+breakfast ready. Then the others got up, one after another, and soon
+daylight broke, and Camp Rest was once more astir.
+
+“Now for nothing less than two or three deer!” cried Harry,
+enthusiastically.
+
+“That’s the talk,” returned Jack. “And we’ll get them, too, if we go
+far enough up in the mountains.”
+
+“That is if we don’t all get buck-fever and forget to shoot when we
+have the chance,” laughed Andy.
+
+“Da is lots ob fellers wot gits dat fever,” remarked Pickles. “I
+reckerlect my dad a-speakin’ ob a party ob six gen’men from de city
+gwine up in de mountains to shoot deer, and when day had de chance to
+knock ober foah of dem, not a single gen’men t’ought to pull trigger,
+an’ de consekences was dat de deer all got away!”
+
+“We’ll try to do better than that,” laughed Harry, and all agreed with
+him.
+
+As they expected to be away from camp until sundown, enough meat and
+crackers were taken along to serve for dinner. This was stowed away in
+Pickles’ haversack. Then the traps to be left behind were stowed away
+in the hut, and off they started on what was to be one of the best
+hunts of the outing.
+
+Boxy wanted to take the sled along to bring back at least one of the
+deer, but Jack said they could make a drag, if they were lucky enough
+to get the animal.
+
+Instead of following the creek, they now struck off directly for the
+mountains. The sunshine of the day previous had settled the snow,
+and crusted it over in many spots, and they found traveling not as
+difficult as some of them had imagined.
+
+“I trust we meet no more wolves,” said Jack, as he and Harry trudged
+along side by side. “One experience with those chaps is enough.”
+
+“Especially such an experience as we had,” was the reply.
+
+“When will we get to the deer territory?” called out Andy, from behind.
+
+“We ought to strike a run by eleven or twelve o’clock,” replied Harry.
+
+“Not habing a dorg is gwine to bodder us considerbul,” remarked
+Pickles. “It takes a good dorg to stir up de animiles.”
+
+“Well, we’ll do the best we can without,” returned Jack. “Come on, for
+we have still several miles to go.”
+
+On they went, over half-a-dozen hills and creeks, and up steep rocks
+and across deep ravines. Sometimes they traveled rapidly, and at others
+with extreme caution.
+
+“Don’t fall into some hollow or hole and break a leg,” was Boxy’s
+caution, and it was a timely one.
+
+Overhead the sun had been shining, but now it went under a bank of
+light clouds, and, as a consequence, it grew colder.
+
+“I don’t like the cold,” remarked Jack. “But we can hunt better now
+than when the sun is too bright, to my way of thinking.”
+
+Twelve o’clock found them ascending the side of a long hill, the last
+before the mountains should be reached. The thickets were almost
+impassable, and they looked in vain for some kind of a pathway.
+
+“Don’t make too much noise,” cautioned Harry, as they proceeded.
+“Beyond this hill, I imagine, there is a wide valley, and if so, that
+ought to make a good spot for deer. We don’t want to frighten any
+possible game.”
+
+“I’m most played out,” muttered Andy. “We’ll have to rest a bit when we
+reach the top.”
+
+“Unless we see something, we can stop and have dinner there,” answered
+his brother. “Quiet now, for the top is not far off, and the wind will
+carry our voices down into the valley as soon as we reach the ridge.”
+
+They went on after this in silence, all following Harry and Jack in
+Indian file. Five minutes later the crest of the long hill was before
+them. With the greatest possible caution they crept forward and peered
+over into the valley on the other side.
+
+At first they saw nothing. Then Harry motioned them to silence, and
+pointed to a little opening among the bushes far away to the south.
+Four animals were bunched together there, and a second look convinced
+all of the boys that they were deer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+DEER HUNTING.
+
+
+Every one of the boys took a good look, to make sure that he was not
+mistaken, and then they drew back several yards from the crest of the
+hill.
+
+“Deer, and four of them!” whispered Andy, excitedly.
+
+“We can’t shoot them so far off,” added Boxy.
+
+“No, we have to get closer and on the other side of them,” replied
+Harry.
+
+“Why on the other side?” questioned Andy, impatiently.
+
+“Deer always scent a person if he is to the windward.”
+
+“Oh, I see. Well, shall we cross the valley here?”
+
+“No, we will have to go up to the north and make a wide detour behind
+that bit of woods,” said Jack. “Come on, there is no time to lose. The
+deer may shift their position at any moment.”
+
+In the excitement of the moment all thoughts of the midday meal were
+forgotten. And they likewise forgot that they were tired. With such
+game in view they would have tramped five miles without a murmur.
+
+Harry led the way along the ridge, taking care that they should not
+expose themselves to the view of the deer below. It was a tedious walk,
+especially to Andy, who wanted half-a-dozen times to try a shot at
+long range.
+
+At last they reached the crest of the hill, and began to climb down the
+other side. This was hard work, for fear of striking an icy surface and
+going down--no one could tell where.
+
+It was half an hour before they stood in the valley. Here it was
+warmer, on account of the shelter from the wind.
+
+“Now come on and we’ll get to some spot directly behind the deer,” said
+Harry. “Then we will spread out in a semi-circle and do our best to bag
+the lot.”
+
+Without another word, and scarcely daring to breathe, they moved along
+in the snow, their guns, and the rifle carried by Jack, ready for
+immediate use.
+
+Luckily, there was a small rise of rocks between the game and the boys,
+and using this as a shelter, they approached closer and closer to the
+deer.
+
+“Now all fire when I give the signal, a sharp whistle,” said Jack.
+“Don’t fire before, and don’t forget to have a second charge ready for
+your guns.”
+
+With these instructions, he stationed Andy and Boxy in one spot,
+Pickles in another, and then went on with Harry.
+
+Fifty feet farther Jack and Harry came to a halt, and selected places
+not over two yards apart.
+
+“I’ll take the one by the tree,” whispered Jack. “You take any of the
+others you please. All ready?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+At that instant one of the deer raised his head and sniffed the air.
+Something had alarmed him.
+
+Jack gave a sharp whistle, and up came the other deer heads.
+
+Bang! bang! bang! went the rifle and the guns in a running fire. One
+of the deer leaped up into the air and fell mortally wounded. A second
+staggered off, shot in the fore legs. The others were apparently
+unharmed, and bounded off down the valley on the wings of the wind.
+
+“Go for the wounded one!” shouted Harry, as he rammed another load into
+his gun. “I’m going after those other deer!”
+
+And away he went, before Jack could utter a single protest.
+
+Harry knew enough to keep out of sight, and to move along silently. He
+covered the ground with all the speed at his command, nevertheless,
+forcing his way through the woods and over rocks for nearly a quarter
+of a mile.
+
+At this point the valley narrowed, and he was forced by the lay of the
+land to come out into the open.
+
+As he had hoped, the two unwounded deer had come to a halt, and were
+standing on a rocky slope, looking back curiously, to learn what manner
+of fate had overtaken their companions.
+
+They soon spied the young hunter, however, and turned to run on. It was
+then that Harry fired at the hindmost.
+
+His aim was true, and the entire charge entered the creature’s back.
+He stumbled into the snow and rolled over and over.
+
+Thinking him about done for, the boy ran forward to view his prize.
+Scarcely had he come within five yards, when the deer, a small but
+strong-built buck, scrambled up and charged upon him.
+
+Harry leaped to one side in the nick of time. Had it been otherwise,
+those sharp prongs would have pierced him through and through. The buck
+staggered on several yards, and then turned and made a second assault.
+
+Again Harry sprang out of the way. Then he started to run, but had gone
+scarcely thirty feet when he stumbled on an icy rock, slipped along a
+yard or two and fell forward.
+
+The poor boy gave himself up as lost. But help was close at hand. The
+sharp report of Jack’s rifle rang out, and over tumbled the buck, shot
+through the eye, and quite dead.
+
+“Are you hurt, Harry? Did he buck you?” questioned Jack, quickly.
+
+“No, I’m all right,” panted Harry. “And thanks to you for killing him.”
+
+“You wounded him, didn’t you?”
+
+“Yes, his back is full of buckshot. But it only made him ugly. What of
+that deer that was wounded first?”
+
+“Andy, Boxy and Pickles took care of him. This makes three out of four,
+and that is not bad.”
+
+Getting some branches, the boys made a rough drag and placed the buck
+upon it. Luckily, there was a little creek running through the middle
+of the valley, and on the ice covering they slid their game down to the
+spot where the sport had first begun.
+
+The others were waiting for them, and they set up a yell of delight
+when they saw a third deer had been brought down.
+
+“Dis am sumfing to be proud ob, an’ no mistake,” observed Pickles. “My
+dad won’t most beliebe me when I dun tell him ob it.”
+
+“We’ll take along the horns and skins, and that will certify to our
+story,” said Jack. “The question is, what’s to be done with all of this
+meat?”
+
+“It’s a pity, but most of it will have to be left behind, I suppose,”
+returned Harry. “Let us carry as much of the choice pieces as we can.”
+
+They set to work with a will to skin the deer, saving the heads just as
+they were. They were hard at work when a loud, drawling voice disturbed
+them.
+
+“Wall, neow, jess tew look at thet!” exclaimed the voice. “Dew yeou
+boys mean tew say thet yeou killed the three of ’em?”
+
+They looked around, and standing on the rocks beheld a tall, slim-built
+farmer, evidently of Yankee extraction, surveying the scene in wonder
+and admiration.
+
+“Yes, we killed them,” replied Harry. “Pretty good for one morning’s
+hunt, eh?”
+
+“Most etarnally good, young man--in fact, the best Josh Higginson hez
+seed in many a year. It does yeou proud, boys, take my word on it!”
+
+“We are proud,” returned Andy, honestly.
+
+“I came deown here tew see if I could git a shot myself, but I guess
+it’s tew late neow. Too bad, tew, for the old woman wuz calkerlatin’ on
+a bit o’ vension fer tew-morrow’s dinner.”
+
+“You can have some and welcome,” returned Jack, quickly. “We do not
+wish it all, and cannot carry it to our camp on Rock Island Lake.”
+
+“Yes, he might as well take all that is left,” added Harry. “It will
+only spoil here.”
+
+“That’s so,” put in Andy and Boxy.
+
+Josh Higginson was greatly pleased. In truth, he was not much of a
+hunter, and it is doubtful if he could have brought down a deer even if
+given the chance.
+
+He thanked them over and over again, and said he would go home and
+bring a sled and horse down to carry away the meat. He asked the boys
+about themselves, and said he hoped that they would have the best
+possible time during the balance of their outing in the woods.
+
+“I have a tidy little place up tew the end o’ the valley,” he said;
+“an’ if yeou come up thet way drap in, an’ I’ll treat yeou the best I
+know heow.”
+
+Not to get back to camp too late, they rushed matters, and half an hour
+later were on their way. Each was loaded heavily, but no one grumbled,
+for was it not the prize of the day they were carrying?
+
+“Won’t folks in Rudskill be astonished when they learn of all we shot!”
+exclaimed Boxy. “I guess they’ll think we are regular hunters, true
+enough!”
+
+“This meat will last us the balance of the outing,” said Harry. “So we
+won’t have to worry about food any more.”
+
+On and on they went, over the hills, until, when it was growing quite
+dark, they came in sight of the camp.
+
+“Home again!” sang out Andy, “and I am not sorry. Another mile would
+have done me----”
+
+“Somebody has been here!” interrupted Harry, quickly. “See, the fire
+has been scattered right and left, and the oven torn to pieces!”
+
+“Who could have been mean enough to do this?” put in Jack, angrily.
+
+Then he stopped short, and both he and Harry made a rush for the hut.
+
+A single glance around showed that their sudden fear was realized. The
+hut had been looted. Every one of their traps, including the sled, was
+gone!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+TRACK OF THE MARAUDERS.
+
+
+For the moment both Jack and Harry were dumfounded by their discovery.
+They stared around the hut, and then stared at each other.
+
+“What’s the trouble?” asked Boxby, pushing his way inside behind them,
+and followed by Andy and Pickles.
+
+“They have stolen the sled and all of our things!” burst out Jack,
+wrathfully.
+
+A shout of dismay went up.
+
+“Who did it?”
+
+“Where have they gone?”
+
+“Can’t we go after them?”
+
+“I can’t cook no supper widout a pot or a kettle,” added Pickles,
+dubiously.
+
+“And we won’t have supper until we have our things back,” returned
+Harry, quickly. “I’m not going to sit still and have my blankets and
+the rest stolen.”
+
+“Nor I! Nor I!” shouted the others.
+
+“Most likely it was tramps,” commented Boxby. “I wonder how many of
+them.”
+
+“Light up some torches and we’ll take a look around,” ordered Harry,
+and the suggestion was carried out with all possible haste.
+
+But the search, minute as it was, revealed but little. Every article
+of value had been carried off, the oven destroyed, and evidence was not
+wanting to show that the marauders had tried in several places to ruin
+the hut.
+
+“It’s a burning shame!” burst out Andy. “It was bad enough to steal the
+things, without ruining what was left.”
+
+“It’s a piece of maliciousness, that’s just what it is,” returned
+Boxby. “It looks like the work of a personal enemy.”
+
+“But we haven’t any personal enemies up here,” said Andy. “We left them
+behind in Rudskill.”
+
+“Ain’t it mos’ too dark to go aftah dem fellers?” asked Pickles.
+
+“It is dark,” replied Jack, “but by taking torches we can follow the
+footprints, I think. There is nothing else to do. We can’t go to bed
+without our blankets very well.”
+
+“Come on, there is no time to lose,” urged Harry, and, hanging up their
+deer meat and the heads and antlers, they started off, each with a
+blazing pine knot held aloft of his head.
+
+The track of the heavily-laden sled led across the creek, and off along
+the shore of Rock Island Lake. They counted the footsteps of three
+persons who had dragged the sled along. In several places the footsteps
+showed all around the sled.
+
+“That is where they had to stop to secure the load,” remarked Harry. “I
+suppose they loaded so hastily that it kept slipping off. See, here is
+one of the tin plates.”
+
+And he picked up the article from where it lay, half buried in the
+snow.
+
+The plate was turned over to Pickles, and a sharp lookout was kept for
+more of their belongings, which resulted in the finding of another
+plate, two knives, a fork, and one small tin kettle.
+
+“At this rate, we’ll find all of the stuff at the end of two or three
+miles,” observed Harry. “The careless, good-for-nothing fellows! how I
+would like to face them just now!”
+
+And the look on his face showed that he was far from being in a
+pleasant humor.
+
+About a mile from the creek the track turned directly toward the lake,
+and a hundred feet farther on was lost on the clear ice, the snow
+having been blown in patches by the high wind.
+
+“Here’s a state of things!” grumbled Boxy. “We can’t follow that trail
+on the ice very well.”
+
+“Let us take a look ahead,” suggested Jack. “They might have turned on
+the ice for a short distance merely to destroy the trail.”
+
+They looked on and also all about them, and even ran out on the lake
+for a short distance, but it was useless. The trail was lost and could
+not be picked up again.
+
+At last the boys ceased their search, and gathered in a crestfallen
+group to discuss the situation.
+
+“It’s the worst thing that could happen,” said Boxy. “We can’t continue
+to camp without our things.”
+
+“No; unless we can get cooking utensils and blankets, we’ll have to go
+home.”
+
+“It’s too dark to do more to-night,” said Jack. “Let us make ourselves
+as comfortable as possible and take up the search again as soon as day
+breaks.”
+
+“That’s the talk!” cried Harry. “We won’t give up till we catch those
+rascals and recover our belongings.”
+
+This proposition suited every one, and, thoroughly tired out from their
+extra tramp, they returned to the hut.
+
+Pickles set to work with a will to build up a roaring fire, and to
+protect them from the cold while they slept without blankets this was
+placed as closely to the opening of the hut as they dared to put it.
+
+The small kettle came in handy for heating water, and a haunch of
+venison was soon spitted over the fire. Despite their downcast spirits,
+the boys all ate heartily. When they had finished, everything was left
+in readiness for an early breakfast in the morning.
+
+Luckily, it was not extra cold, and the wind came in such a direction
+that the hut was greatly sheltered. So, although somewhat cold, the
+boys still managed to put in a fairly comfortable night, sleeping as
+they did, in their overcoats, with the fire just outside of the door.
+
+At the first streak of dawn in the east, Harry was up, and he quickly
+aroused the others. Ten minutes later they were eating breakfast.
+
+“We’ll have to take some provisions along for dinner,” said Jack.
+
+“There is nothing else to take but deer meat,” grumbled Andy. “Those
+chaps took everything, even our squirrels and rabbits.”
+
+“Well, we won’t starve on deer meat,” returned Harry, as cheerfully as
+he could; “but, nevertheless, we’ll have an account to settle with
+those fellows when we catch them.”
+
+“Maybe they’ll defy us,” said Boxy. “Some tramps are mighty nasty.”
+
+“What of that? We are all armed,” said Jack, and the look on his face
+told that he was willing to fight for his own every time.
+
+Pickles’ haversack was soon packed with cooked deer meat, the fire
+was banked up for the day, and then off they sat in quest of their
+belongings.
+
+The sun was just rising over the hills, and it promised to be a fair
+day, with but little wind. Through the brush and trees the ice and snow
+glittered like silver and pearls, making the prettiest of pictures.
+
+The boys had their guns loaded, and before they came to where the trail
+moved down to the lake, Andy caught sight of a squirrel, and shot the
+pretty animal.
+
+“There; that will give us a taste of something else besides deer meat,”
+he said, with some satisfaction, as he hung the game over his shoulder.
+
+When the lake was reached, they halted as they had the night before,
+and gazed around in hopes of seeing something which might have escaped
+them in the semi-darkness.
+
+But not a clew came to view in the vicinity. All around was the
+glittering ice, that was all.
+
+“Let us divide up into two parties,” said Harry. “One party to go along
+the lake, and the other to go part of the way across, keeping an eye on
+the various drifts on the ice. The trail is bound to turn up somewhere
+before long.”
+
+“Supposing we get separated?” asked Boxy.
+
+“Fire a gun if you want to find the others, and fire twice if the trail
+is found,” suggested Jack, and so it was settled.
+
+Boxy, Andy and Pickles started off across the ice, while Jack and Harry
+continued along the lake.
+
+“It’s my opinion they came this way,” observed Jack. “It’s a long
+journey across the ice on foot.”
+
+“That’s just my opinion, too, Jack. Besides, if they were going to
+cross the lake they would have done it from the mouth of the creek,
+instead of picking a way through the snow and brush so far.”
+
+“I’ve been wondering if that ghost, as Boxy calls it, had anything to
+do with this,” went on Jack, slowly.
+
+“Perhaps. The plunderers might have thought to scare us away from camp.
+When they saw that wouldn’t work, they waited for us to go off on a
+hunt.”
+
+“It looks natural, doesn’t it? Well, let us hope we’ll clear up the
+whole affair before night.”
+
+On the two went along the lake, moving close to the shore, and
+examining every little cove that presented itself.
+
+Presently they came to another creek, about the same size as that upon
+which the camp was situated. It was comparatively free from snow.
+
+“They might have gone up this,” said Harry. “What do you think?”
+
+“Perhaps. But let us continue up the lake,” returned Jack.
+
+“Supposing you keep on, while I run up the creek a few hundred feet. If
+I see nothing, I’ll soon join you.”
+
+“All right.”
+
+Jack turned to the shore once more, and was soon out of sight. Harry
+proceeded up the stream, keeping his eyes open on both sides for
+anything that might look like the trail.
+
+He had scarcely moved onward a hundred feet when a low cry escaped him.
+Stooping, he picked up the top of a coffee pot. He recognized it as
+belonging to the outfit of the Zero Club. He had found the trail again!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE COTTAGE IN THE WOODS.
+
+
+To make sure that he was not mistaken, Harry continued to search in the
+vicinity of the spot, and presently he discovered the tracks of the
+sled through a tiny drift of snow on one side of the creek, twenty feet
+farther on.
+
+Without hesitation he fired his gun, and, loading hastily, fired a
+second shot. Then he sat down impatiently to await the arrival of the
+others.
+
+Jack might have joined him in a few minutes, but he wisely waited at
+the mouth of the creek for Andy, Boxy and Pickles, that they might not
+go astray along the shore.
+
+Soon the four boys hove in sight, all eager to learn what he had
+discovered.
+
+The top of the coffee pot was exhibited, and Harry’s story told, and
+then, with their hopes revived, they started up the creek, eager to
+trace the trail to its end.
+
+It was not long before the creek began to narrow, and here the ice was
+covered with snow, through which it was easy to follow the tracks.
+
+“Here’s where they left the creek,” said Harry, ten minutes later.
+“See, they moved off directly through the woods.”
+
+“But it’s a roundabout course,” observed Jack, “and that proves that it
+was new ground for them to cover.”
+
+Presently they came to a deep ravine, and saw that the marauders had
+walked along this in both directions, looking for a place to cross.
+Being unable to find it, they had continued along the ravine until its
+upper end was reached, and then struck out through the thick woods
+between two hills.
+
+“They must have visited the camp early in the morning,” said Boxy.
+“Otherwise, they couldn’t have come so far before nightfall.”
+
+“It’s my opinion they came in right after we went away,” said Andy.
+“Maybe they were watching for our departure.”
+
+“Dat’s de ghost did it!” burst out Pickles. “I’ll bet my ole hat on it!”
+
+“I guess the ghost was one of the party,” said Jack, dryly, and Boxy
+started and suddenly turned red.
+
+No more was said just then, Harry at that moment catching sight of a
+partridge and firing. He caught the bird just as it was going up with a
+whirr, and brought it down almost at the party’s feet.
+
+“There, Andy, now we can have three kinds of meat instead of two,” he
+laughed, and put the bird in his game-bag.
+
+“It must be nearly noon,” said Jack, a few minutes later. “Wait till I
+look at my watch.” He unbuttoned his overcoat and his jacket. “Quarter
+to twelve.”
+
+“I knowed it was about dat, kase I’m so hungry,” replied Pickles.
+
+“We can stop for dinner if you say so,” said Harry.
+
+It was so agreed, and, coming to several fallen trees, they rested and
+ate their venison. Andy wanted to cook his squirrel, but it was voted
+by the others that this would take too long.
+
+“Those fellows can’t be very far off,” said Harry. “And the sooner we
+overtake them the better. It’s more than likely they’ll use up all our
+coffee, crackers and other stuff if they are given half a chance.”
+
+The midday meal was soon over, and, somewhat refreshed by their brief
+rest, the boys moved on with renewed vigor.
+
+“We are in the very depths of these woods,” said Harry. “See how thick
+the trees are.”
+
+“Supposing we get lost?” put in Boxy. “Those fellows might have lost
+their way for all we know.”
+
+A minute or two later Jack fancied he saw some sort of an animal moving
+through the brush to his right. He made a dash for it, calling to the
+others to wait until his return.
+
+He was gone but a short while, and then they heard him yelling for them
+to come to him.
+
+They soon joined him, and discovered that he had killed a
+strange-looking beast, not unlike a wildcat. He had a desperate
+struggle with the animal, and his clothing was torn in several places.
+
+“It was a blow on the back that settled him,” he said. “I must have
+paralyzed his backbone. What a horrible-looking thing!”
+
+“Are you going to take it along?” asked Boxy.
+
+“No, leave it where it is. It gives me the creeps to look at it!”
+
+And Jack shuddered over his narrow escape.
+
+They were about to turn back to the trail when Harry gave an
+exclamation of surprise, and pointed through the trees to their left.
+
+“A cottage!”
+
+“It is true enough!” exclaimed Andy. “And right in the middle of the
+woods! How queer!”
+
+“I wonder who lives there?” asked Boxy.
+
+“He must be a regular hermit, whoever it be,” vouchsafed Harry. “He
+couldn’t choose a more lonely spot!”
+
+“Maybe the fellows who robbed us live there!” cried Boxy, suddenly.
+
+“That’s so,” returned Jack. “Go slow, boys, and be on your guard!”
+
+With extreme caution they approached the cottage, which was a long,
+one-story affair, very much dilapidated. The door and the windows were
+tightly closed. There was no smoke coming from the crumbling chimney,
+and nowhere about the place were there the first signs of life.
+
+“It’s deserted,” said Harry, and he kicked open the front door with his
+foot.
+
+The banging of the door startled a number of birds up among the eaves,
+and they flew out of the cottage in a bunch before any of the club
+members could fire at them.
+
+“Hullo, in there!” called out Boxy, but no answer was received, and the
+five boys stepped inside.
+
+“Deserted, true enough,” remarked Jack, as he and the others gazed
+around.
+
+“Yes, and for a good number of years,” rejoined Harry. “Just look how
+thick the cobwebs hang everywhere. I dare say no one has been here for
+years.”
+
+“You are right, for even the fireplace is falling down,” said Andy. “I
+wonder who ever built away out here in this lonely spot?”
+
+“Some chap who was tired of the world, most likely,” laughed Jack.
+“Say, boys,” he went on, suddenly, “do you know what I think that
+animal I killed was?”
+
+“What?”
+
+“A house cat, or a house cat’s offspring, gone wild. Didn’t it look
+like it?”
+
+“Dat’s so,” put in Pickles. “Like as not dat animal’s great-grandmudder
+was de pet hyar, and when de pusson wot libed hyar died or moved away,
+de cat had to shift fo’ herself.”
+
+“And so she became a wildcat, and joined the other wildcats around
+here,” finished Harry. “It may be so--stranger things have happened.”
+
+Jack was in for leaving the deserted cottage at once and continuing on
+the track of those who had plundered their hut, but the others demurred.
+
+“Let’s take a look around first,” cried Boxy. “It’s fun to strike an
+old place like this. Let’s see what we can find. Perhaps we’ll unearth
+a treasure.”
+
+“Not likely!” laughed Jack. “But there are some few old dishes in
+the pantry collection hunters might go wild over,” he went on, as he
+brought out half a dozen of the delicate blue ware variety.
+
+“Let us take them along!” said Andy. “Evidently the original owner is
+dead, or has given up all claim to them.”
+
+He and his brother continued to sort over the stuff in the pantry,
+while Boxy and Pickles took down several articles from the wide,
+old-fashioned mantelpiece.
+
+“Here’s a candlestick from revolutionary times,” said Boxy. “I’m going
+to take that along and put it in father’s war collection.”
+
+“An’ dar is an ole tinder box,” cried Pickles. “We kin use dat if we
+run out ob matches.”
+
+“Here’s a bean pot half full of moldy beans,” called out Andy,
+presently. “Shouldn’t wonder if the fellow who once lived here was a
+Yankee.”
+
+“And here’s a book on money!” shouted Jack. “Here is a name: John
+Applegate, his book, January 1, 1824. Phew! over seventy years ago!
+He must be dead by this time if he was, say twenty, when he got the
+volume.”
+
+“He was more than that,” returned Boxy, “for here is his name over the
+door: John Applegate, 1814. He built this cottage eighty years ago.
+Would you believe it! I should think it would tumble down in that time.”
+
+“It was strongly built, and has probably been repaired from time to
+time,” said Jack. “But, whoever he was, John Applegate is probably dead
+and gone now, so we can take what we please from here.”
+
+“I’m glad to hear that!” shouted Harry from the next room. “For I have
+found something that is indeed a treasure.”
+
+“What is it? What is it?” cried the others, and they rushed to where he
+was kneeling in front of a worm-eaten chest.
+
+“A stocking full of old coins!” he returned, and he held it up for
+their inspection.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+HARRY’S PRIZE.
+
+
+“Is it gold?” queried Jack, as he and the others clustered around their
+kneeling companion.
+
+“Not quite, but there is some silver there,” replied Harry. “Wait till
+I spread the coins out on the bench over there.”
+
+He walked to a bench beneath one of the windows, and, turning up the
+stocking, which was covered with mold, and ready to fall apart, he
+allowed some forty coins of all sizes to roll out.
+
+“Not a gold coin in the lot!” sighed Boxy. “And I was thinking you
+might have struck a fortune!”
+
+“Here are half-a-dozen silver coins, worth at least twenty-five cents
+to a dollar,” said Jack, as he handled them one after another. “Just
+see how old they are! Some of them date away back to sixteen and
+seventeen hundred!”
+
+“I have an idea they are worth a neat sum,” said Harry, with sparkling
+eyes. “You must remember that coin collectors pay pretty good prices
+for some coins.”
+
+“By creation! I never thought of that!” cried Andy. “Maybe there is a
+fortune after all.”
+
+“The collection is certainly worth something,” said Jack, slowly. “And
+I hope, for Harry’s sake, that it proves valuable, for the find belongs
+to him.”
+
+“We’ll share and share alike,” began Harry, but the others cut him
+short. They all loved their companion, and were only too glad to throw
+a chance of making something in his way.
+
+The coins were carefully sorted over, and then Harry tied them in his
+handkerchief and put them in a safe place inside of his clothes. He
+calculated that the collection ought to bring him in at least fifty or
+a hundred dollars, and to a person in his reduced circumstances this
+was worth obtaining.
+
+After this, the remainder of the contents of the chest, consisting of
+some clothing and a few books, which fell apart as soon as removed, was
+taken out. There was nothing more of value.
+
+On the walls of the cottage were found several old engravings
+representing a naval battle and several religious executions. Jack took
+these and placed them flat in his game-bag.
+
+“It’s about time now that we got back to the trail,” he said. “We have
+lost an hour here.”
+
+“Well, I for one don’t begrudge the time,” said Boxy, and all,
+especially Harry, said the same.
+
+With a last look around, they left the cottage, shutting the door
+behind them. It was the first time that the place had been visited for
+years, and perhaps it would be even longer before it would be visited
+again.
+
+They were soon on the trail again, and hurrying along as fast as the
+roughness of the country would permit. Up one hill and down another
+they went, around great rocks and across numerous tiny streams, until
+at last they struck the end of the valley in which they had shot the
+deer the day previous.
+
+“I must confess I am tired,” remarked Andy, with an effort. “We must
+have covered a good many miles since we started.”
+
+“We have,” returned Jack. “But I--hold on, what is that ahead?”
+
+As he uttered the last words, Jack motioned the others to stop. At the
+same time he pointed to where a rough lean-to rested against a wall of
+rocks all of twenty feet high.
+
+“That’s some kind of a ranch,” returned Harry. “And, my gracious! there
+is our sled standing outside!” he burst out. “Boys, we have found those
+fellows at last!”
+
+“Bettah be cahful,” warned Pickles. “Da may be mighty tough customahs
+to deal wid!”
+
+“See that your guns are ready,” ordered Jack, sternly. “We’ll lay down
+the law to them, no matter who they are.”
+
+Every member of the Zero Club at once complied. Boxy was a trifle
+nervous, but he did his best to hide it. Jack and Harry, as the natural
+leaders of the crowd, went to the front.
+
+Before the lean-to ran a small mountain stream, now frozen solid.
+Between that and the shelter smoldered a fire, and around this were
+scattered a large quantity of chicken feathers and the heads of two of
+the barnyard fowls.
+
+“They have evidently been having a chicken dinner,” murmured Harry.
+“Wonder why they didn’t go out and shoot some game?”
+
+“Maybe they are no sportsmen,” returned Jack. “It is very seldom that
+tramps are. And, besides, if they would steal our traps, they wouldn’t
+hesitate to carry off some farmer’s chickens.”
+
+“There doesn’t seem to be any one around,” went on Harry, after a
+pause, in which all of the party surveyed the situation as closely as
+possible.
+
+“Perhaps they have gone off on a hunt. Hullo!” Jack went on, in a loud
+voice.
+
+No answer came back, and no one appeared in sight, so, without further
+hesitation, the five boys walked boldly into the camp and began to
+inspect it.
+
+As has been said, their sled stood upon the outside of the lean-to.
+Inside were their traps, nothing missing but a plate or two and one of
+the pots.
+
+“Thank fortune we have recovered our stuff!” exclaimed Jack. “Had it
+been otherwise, our tour would have come to a most inglorious end.”
+
+“These fellows have blankets and cooking utensils of their own,”
+remarked Harry. “Now, what could possess them to steal our stuff?”
+
+“They expected to cart it off and sell it, most likely,” replied Andy.
+“Those blankets would bring ten or twelve dollars at least, and the
+other articles several dollars more.”
+
+“Shall we wait here till they come back?” asked Boxy.
+
+“Certainly we’ll wait,” returned Jack. “We’ll give them a piece of our
+mind if nothing else.”
+
+“Dar is only t’ree of dem,” said Pickles. “An’ we is five ag’in dem.”
+
+“Besides, we’ll lay for them and take them by surprise,” added Harry.
+“Ah! there are our rabbits and squirrels tied up in a tree.”
+
+And he started at once to cut down the game.
+
+“That proves they must have had those chickens before they struck our
+camp,” said Andy. “I wonder how soon they will be back.”
+
+“Here come four men on horseback!” suddenly cried Harry, with a glance
+down the valley.
+
+“Four men!” cried Jack. “Sure enough! They can’t be the fellows that
+belong to this place.”
+
+“Maybe they do.”
+
+“But there are only outfits for three here.”
+
+“They may have found a companion,” suggested Boxy.
+
+“And what of the horses?” questioned Jack.
+
+“If they would steal our stuff, they would steal horses, too,” returned
+Harry. “Perhaps they are a regular set of backwoods outlaws.”
+
+“We’ll be on our guard!” cried Boxy. “Those fellows have discovered us,
+and are riding for this place just as fast as they can.”
+
+Boxy was right. The four horsemen had been proceeding somewhat slowly,
+but now they started on a gallop, the foremost pointing with extended
+arm toward the lean-to.
+
+“I don’t like the looks of that crowd,” said Harry, as they drew
+closer. “Every one of them has a shotgun over his saddle.”
+
+“See! see! they are aiming at us!” cried Andy. “They evidently imagine
+we are going to run away!”
+
+“Hold on, you fellows!” roared the leading horseman, as he drew within
+hearing distance. “Don’t you dare to stir unless you want to get a dose
+of buckshot into you!”
+
+The boys gathered into a group near the fire, and a few seconds later
+the horsemen surrounded them, each with his shotgun ready for use.
+
+“There be them chickens, Jim, ez sure ez you air born!” cried one of
+the men. “I told yeou them rascals cum this way!”
+
+“Will rob an honest farmer’s hen-roost, will yeou?” burst out another
+of the men. “Four o’ ’em an’ a coon! Put down yeour guns, yeou scamps,
+or we’ll fill yeour hides so full o’ shot yeou can’t stand!”
+
+Simultaneously, the four men sprang down into the snow, and came
+forward. At a glance it was plain to see that they were a quartet of
+hard-working and honest farmers.
+
+“We’ll march the lot o’ ’em over to Bagsville, and have Squire Riggins
+sit on the case,” said the leader. “We’ll teach ’em how to come up here
+an’ steal our lawful property!”
+
+[Illustration: “Will rob an honest farmer’s hen-roost, will yeou?” See
+page 174.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+A FRIEND IN NEED.
+
+
+The boys listened in silence to what the farmers had to say. They
+realized at once the natural mistake the men were making. The chickens
+the owners of the camp had cooked had been stolen, and these four
+tillers of the soil supposed the members of the Zero Club guilty of the
+crime which had been committed.
+
+Jack was the first to speak, and a faint smile showed itself around the
+corners of his mouth as he lowered his shotgun and began to explain the
+case.
+
+“You are making a great mistake,” he said. “We know nothing of your
+chickens. We do not belong at this camp.”
+
+“Tell thet to yeour grandmother!” retorted the foremost farmer. “I know
+better.”
+
+“My friend speaks the truth,” put in Harry. “Our camp is away off on
+the shore of Rock Island Lake.”
+
+“None o’ yeour darn yarns now!” growled another of the farmers. “If I
+an’t mistaken, yeou be the very feller I seed around the barn tudder
+evenin’!”
+
+“You are mistaken. But I don’t wonder your chickens were stolen. We had
+all our traps taken, and we came here to get them back.”
+
+“Gee shoo! Can’t thet boy tell a yarn, though?” chuckled the tallest
+of the farmers. “He must hev been a-makin’ it up fer fear we would
+cotch him!”
+
+“It is no yarn!” retorted Harry, flushing up. “I am telling the plain
+truth. We are not the owners of this camp, and we know positively
+nothing of your fowls.”
+
+“We are above taking chickens!” burst in Boxy. “We can shoot all the
+game we wish, and more.”
+
+“So we can,” added Andy. “Do we look like chicken thieves?”
+
+“Wall, I reckon a coon makes a good hen lifter!” laughed the smallest
+of the farmers, with a nod toward Pickles, which made the colored youth
+mad clear to his heels.
+
+“Look heah!” he cried out, shaking his gun threateningly; “yo’ can’t
+consult me dat way, yo’ low-down white trash! A chicken lifter, indeed!
+Moah likely yo’ is one yourself!”
+
+“What’s thet? Don’t yeou talk tew me!” roared the farmer, bristling up
+like a turkey cock. “Maybe yeou don’t know who yeou be a-talkin’ to?”
+
+“I don’t know, nor care!” retorted Pickles. “I ain’t no chicken lifter,
+an’ if yo’ go fo’ to say so, yo’ll git yo’self into a big muss wid me!”
+
+“Here, we’ve had enough talking,” put in the first man who had spoken.
+“Put down your guns, every one of you, and be quick about it!”
+
+“I won’t put down my gun!” cried Jack. “And if you molest me, you will
+regret it, mark my words!”
+
+“We are respectable boys from Rudskill, and you have no right to come
+here and threaten us,” added Andy.
+
+“We’ll see,” growled the farmer. “What do you say?” he went on to his
+companions. “Shall we take ’em to Bagsville and have ’em up before
+Squire Riggins?”
+
+“Thet’s the talk!”
+
+“It will be a darn good lesson to other chicken thieves!”
+
+“Sure, Seth; take ’em up!”
+
+“Thet settles it, then, along yeou go, every one. Yeou kin do with
+yeour traps ez yeou please.”
+
+“I’ll not budge a step!” replied Harry, firmly.
+
+“Nor I! Nor I!” burst out the other boys.
+
+“We’ll see!” howled the leading farmer, his face growing dark with
+ill-suppressed wrath. “You can’t defy the laws of the country, see if
+you can!”
+
+“If you’ll only listen to reason,” put in Jack. “Perhaps we can
+prove----”
+
+“Them air chicken heads ez enough for us,” burst out one of the
+farmers. “Thar’s the head o’ the best Leghorn I had!”
+
+“You’ll come along with us, and right neow!” put in another. “No more
+plaguety foolin’ about it!”
+
+The farmers came closer, and it looked as if there would be a struggle
+and possibly bloodshed.
+
+But just then a call was received from up the valley, and looking
+in the direction, all saw a man striding along through the snow, a
+horsewhip in his hand.
+
+As he drew closer, the boys saw that the new-comer was Josh Higginson,
+the man to whom they had given the deer meat.
+
+“Have yeou got the fellers, boys?” he called out, to the other farmers.
+
+“Yeou jess bet we hev!” replied the leader of the men on horseback.
+
+“Why, by gum! ef it an’t the fellers thet give me the venison!” roared
+Josh Higginson, in amazement.
+
+“Oh, Mr. Higginson, perhaps you can help us out here,” burst in Harry,
+quickly.
+
+“Yes, you evidently know these men,” added Jack.
+
+“Wall, I guess I do know ’em, seein’ ez how they are all neighbors o’
+mine.”
+
+“Say, Josh, do yeou know these ’ere fellers?” asked the leader on
+horseback.
+
+“They air the fellers thet give me all thet venison yesterday--the boys
+ez shot them three deer in one lick.”
+
+“They claim we are chicken thieves,” said Harry. “They believe we
+belong to this camp, while I told them our camping-place is away off on
+the shore of Rock Island Lake.”
+
+“They told me their camp wuz over tew the lake,” said Josh Higginson.
+“An’ they air such good shots thet it an’t likely they stole the
+chickens at all.”
+
+“We have a squirrel and a partridge with us,” went on Harry. “And here
+are a number of rabbits, too.”
+
+“And we get all the chicken meat we want when we are home,” finished
+Boxy. “We didn’t come out here for that at all, and I wouldn’t touch
+either chicken or turkey just now, unless I was forced to. We are out
+solely to hunt and live on game.”
+
+“I believe the boys speak the truth,” said Josh Higginson. “They look
+like an honest set of fellows.”
+
+One after another the faces of the horsemen fell. They whispered for a
+while among themselves, and finally the leader turned to Harry.
+
+“What’s this you tried to tell us about yeour traps bein’ stolen?” he
+asked.
+
+In return Harry told their story, to which the others added such
+details as they saw fit. The tale took some little time, and the boys
+now found that they had five close listeners.
+
+“Wall, thet’s the worst yet, ef it’s true,” said the leading farmer.
+
+“An’ I guess it ez true,” burst out Josh Higginson. “Fer I saw them
+three fellers skulkin’ around my farm only this noon!”
+
+“These are all our traps,” said Jack, pointing to the loaded sled.
+“Their traps are in the shelter yonder.”
+
+“Then it’s likely they be coming back,” said the stout farmer.
+“Supposin’ we stay here an’ lay low for ’em?”
+
+“Thet’s the talk,” put in another of the farmers. “An’ if those boys
+are honest they’ll stay with us.”
+
+“We expected to get back to camp before dark,” replied Jack, slowly.
+“But I’m willing to stay if the others are. I would like to meet those
+three chaps.”
+
+“So would I,” added Harry. “Let us stay.”
+
+“We’ll stay and help you give them a warm reception,” said Boxy, with
+a look that made every one of the farmers laugh.
+
+Josh Higginson had come out looking for a sheep that had escaped from
+his pen, and after a bit he left the crowd.
+
+It was now growing dusk, and Harry suggested they leave the vicinity of
+the lean-to and hide behind some brush that was not far distant.
+
+“If we remain here the owners of the camp may see us before they get
+very close and turn tail and run,” he said.
+
+“But their things be here,” said one of the farmers.
+
+“Perhaps they would rather lose those than be locked up for chicken
+stealing,” said Jack, and subsequent events proved that he was right.
+
+A few minutes later the entire party withdrew to the bushes Harry had
+mentioned. Here the horses were tied to several trees, and a fire was
+built, at which those that felt cold proceeded to warm themselves.
+
+An hour went by and still no one came near the lean-to. By this time it
+was quite dark, and the boys wondered what they should do if they were
+compelled to remain in the vicinity all night.
+
+“I have it!” cried Andy. “We have our traps and can bunk in the
+lean-to.”
+
+“That’s the idea!” said Boxy. “Won’t they be mad when they find we have
+taken possession?”
+
+Jack was on guard at the edge of the brush, with one of the farmers,
+watching for the return of the camp’s owners. Presently a shout went
+up, followed by the discharge of a gun.
+
+“Something is up!” cried Harry, as he hurried to the front, followed by
+the others.
+
+“We seen one o’ the rascals,” cried the farmer, who held a smoking gun
+in his hand. “He was beyond yonder rocks!”
+
+“And who do you suppose it was, boys?” exclaimed Jack, almost
+breathlessly. “Pete Sully!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE UNSUCCESSFUL PURSUIT.
+
+
+The other members of the Zero Club could hardly believe their ears.
+“Pete Sully!” they cried in unison. “You must be mistaken.”
+
+“No; I saw him as plain as day,” returned Jack, with a decided nod of
+his head.
+
+“Then the three must be Sully, Bill Dixon and Len Spencer!” cried
+Harry, quickly. “What will you bet they haven’t followed us from
+Rudskill to start up a rival camp? I knew they envied our going away.”
+
+“Harry has dun struck it,” put in Pickles. “Didn’t I hear dat Pete
+Sully sayin’ to Spencer dat he wasn’t gwine to be beat by dat Harry
+Webb’s crowd?”
+
+“And I’ll bet that explains the ghost, too,” put in Andy. “They were
+trying to scare us away from our camp.”
+
+“But they must have come up here first,” commented Harry, slowly.
+
+“They could do that. Perhaps they took the train to Rudd’s Landing, or
+maybe they came direct to Bagsville instead of up the river. That would
+give them plenty of time to settle down here before finding our camp.”
+
+“Who is these air boys yeou be talkin’ about?” put in one of the
+farmers, impatiently.
+
+In a few words Harry explained about the bully of the town and his
+friends. The farmers listened to as much as they wished to hear, and
+then one of them suddenly cut him short.
+
+“Ain’t no more time tew talk; let’s go arfter ’em,” he said. “Come on!”
+
+He grabbed his gun and made off through the snow, and one after another
+the boys and men followed, only one farmer and Pickles remaining
+behind, to watch the horses and the traps.
+
+The pursuing party were soon at the rocks behind which Pete Sully had
+been seen. Here not only one set of tracks, but three, were visible,
+showing that the trio were together.
+
+The tracks led in a zigzag fashion through the woods, testifying to
+the fact that in their alarm and fright the plunderers had dashed away
+without knowing what direction to pursue. Evidently, they had in some
+manner learned what had happened, and were completely demoralized by
+their discovery.
+
+After leaving the woods, the tracks led across a deep ravine, and then
+down to a large pond at the lower end of which was a creek, which the
+farmers said emptied into Rock Island Lake. Here on the clear ice the
+trail was lost in the darkness, and could not be found again.
+
+“No use to hunt further,” said one of the farmers. “Let us go back.”
+
+The boys were willing, and the return to the brush near the lean-to
+was at once begun. It was now quite dark, and the farmers were in a
+hurry to get home.
+
+“Folks be a-worryin’ abeout us,” said one of them to Harry. “We didn’t
+calkerlate to stay out so late.”
+
+When the brush was reached the farmers mounted their horses and rode
+down to the lean-to. Here they overhauled the traps left by the owners
+of the place and took along all of the blankets and many of the other
+articles.
+
+“If yeou see them fellers, tell ’em tew call on Ira Goodsell, or Dick
+Pomfett, in Bagsville Deestrict, fer their things,” chuckled one of the
+farmers to Jack. “If they don’t allow as how they care tew call, let
+’em stay about in the cold without nuthin’ tew keep warm o’ nights, ha!
+ha! ha!”
+
+And with a laugh all around, the four farmers bade the boys good-by and
+rode away as fast as their farm nags would carry them.
+
+“That leaves Pete Sully and his followers in a nice stew, truly!”
+laughed Andy. “I wonder how long they will care to camp out without
+blankets or cooking utensils?”
+
+“It serves them right!” burst out Boxy. “They had no business to go
+robbing hen roosts and get us into such a mess of trouble.”
+
+“Not to mention the fact that they carted our stuff off,” put in Harry.
+“But they are paid off now.”
+
+“And as we have our traps and full possession of their lean-to, we
+ought not to complain.”
+
+“Maybe dey will cum down on us durin’ de night,” suggested Pickles.
+
+“I hardly think so,” returned Jack. “However, perhaps we had better
+stand guard. We can take turns of an hour and a half each, from nine
+o’clock on.”
+
+This was agreed to, and a little later they had made themselves at home
+in the lean-to and were busy preparing supper.
+
+Pickles cooked the partridge to perfection, and this, with tea and
+crackers, made a very acceptable repast. All of the boys were worn out,
+and they did not remain awake long after they had finished and the
+dishes had been cleared away.
+
+Jack took the first watch, with Pickles next. Then came Andy, who, in
+order to keep awake, walked outside and replenished the fire, and then
+kept on his feet.
+
+Andy’s watch was nearly finished when he heard a crackling in the brush
+some distance to the left of the lean-to. He looked intently in the
+direction, and presently saw a pair of gleaming eyes bent full upon him.
+
+The eyes were those of some wild animal, which had been attracted to
+the spot doubtless by the scent of the dead game. The animal uttered no
+sound, but continued to glare at Andy in a manner that caused the young
+boy’s blood to run cold.
+
+The fascination of that look was so intense that Andy was for the time
+being transfixed to the spot. He stood motionless, making no movement
+toward getting his gun or arousing his sleeping companions.
+
+The animal, apparently satisfied that there was no danger to be
+encountered, moved forward slowly, until its entire body was exposed in
+the glare of the campfire.
+
+Then it again paused, and its short, powerful tail began to sweep
+quickly from side to side, as it prepared for a spring.
+
+It was at this critical moment that Andy came to himself, and he let
+out a shriek that could have been heard for a quarter of a mile.
+
+Whizz! the animal’s body sailed past the lad, who, as he shrieked,
+sprang back a pace or two, and landed close to the front of the
+lean-to, where hung several of the dead rabbits.
+
+The long, white teeth were snapped together over the backs of two
+of the dead game, and then, with a leap to one side, the wild and
+half-famished animal vanished into the gloom behind the neighboring
+rocks, just as Jack and Harry, guns in hand, tumbled out to see what
+was the matter.
+
+They found Andy leaning up beside the shelter, too faint to stand
+alone. For fully half a minute he could not speak, but pointed
+excitedly toward the rocks.
+
+“A tiger, or wildcat, or something!” he gasped, at last. “Gone with the
+rabbits!”
+
+“Can’t be a tiger!” returned Harry.
+
+“I thought I saw a wildcat when we were in pursuit of Pete Sully and
+his crowd,” said Jack, quickly. “Let’s take a look.”
+
+“Be careful!” exclaimed Andy, in wild alarm. “It’s the worst creature
+you ever saw! It nearly paralyzed me by a look!”
+
+“They are awful!” put in Boxy, making his appearance, followed by
+Pickles. “I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
+
+But despite the protests of the others Jack and Harry insisted on going
+after the marauder. They looked to their guns and provided themselves
+with torches.
+
+Their hunt lasted for nearly half an hour without success. Evidently
+the wildcat had taken itself off to its lair with its prey.
+
+After that the boys slept with one eye open, and the one on guard held
+his gun in readiness for immediate use should the wildcat, or any other
+animal, put in an appearance. But this precaution was unnecessary, for
+the balance of the night passed without further interruption.
+
+After breakfast the things were packed once more, and they started on
+the return to their own hut by the lake.
+
+“I suppose if we wanted to be mean we could tear down their lean-to,”
+said Jack.
+
+“Don’t touch it,” returned Harry. “The loss of their traps is
+punishment enough for them, to my way of thinking.”
+
+So the shelter was left undisturbed, and soon the valley in which it
+was situated was left far behind.
+
+It was no easy matter to find the way back to the lake, and dragging
+the heavily-laden sled over the uneven ground and the rocks was the
+hardest kind of work. They took turns at the job, and frequently
+stopped to rest.
+
+“This shows how anxious those fellows were to spoil our outing,”
+remarked Jack, during a breathing spell. “The three must have had an
+everlasting hard time of it getting the traps to the lean-to.”
+
+“I wonder what they will do, now their own things have been taken,”
+said Harry.
+
+“Like as not they’ll have to go home in disgust,” said Boxy. “And
+that’s just what I hope they will do.”
+
+“An’ we kin crow ober dem when we gits back!” chuckled Pickles.
+
+And then the walk to the camp was resumed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+A HEAVY STORM.
+
+
+On Sunday of the week the boys remained about the camp, doing very
+little of anything. Early in the morning Pickles took Boxy with him and
+showed him how to spear fish through a hole in the ice. The fish made
+an excellent dinner.
+
+Toward evening it began to cloud and blow up from the northwest. Half
+an hour later it was snowing furiously.
+
+“This is going to be a storm, and no mistake,” said Jack, as he went
+out toward the lake shore to take a look around. “It is a good thing we
+have plenty of meat and other stuff on hand.”
+
+“Do you think we will be snowed in?” asked Boxy.
+
+“I do, and it may last for several days. The best thing we can do is to
+gather together all the firewood we can and stack it up just outside of
+the hut. Then when the snow gets too deep we can build a snow-hut and
+have the campfire inside.”
+
+Jack’s suggestion was followed out, and by bedtime they had a pile of
+wood stacked against the hut that was nearly as high as the hut itself.
+The oven was rebuilt closer than ever to the doorway, and a projecting
+top was built over the latter, so that the snow might not drift too
+rapidly into the interior of the hut.
+
+Nothing had been seen or heard of Pete Sully and his companions,
+and all of the boys were inclined to believe that the bully and his
+followers had been forced to return to Rudskill.
+
+Despite the fact that the snow was coming down thickly, the wind
+increased in violence until, as Pickles put it, “dar was about de
+nearest approach to a blizzard wot could well strike dat paht ob de
+country.”
+
+The whistling of the wind through the trees was music to the boys’
+ears, however, and after building up the fire in the best manner they
+could devise, they rolled themselves in their blankets, and gave
+themselves up to their dreams.
+
+It was after eight o’clock when Harry awoke and aroused the others. The
+sled, which had been placed upright in the doorway, was taken down, and
+in tumbled a great mass of snow.
+
+“My gracious, boys, just look at this!” cried Harry. “The snow has
+drifted up against the hut until it is over our heads!”
+
+What he said was strictly true. Outside of the doorway all was a mass
+of white. Even the campfire had been completely snowed under.
+
+“We are in for it now, and no mistake,” murmured Boxy. “We won’t be
+able to get out for a month!”
+
+“Nonsense!” cried Jack, cheerily. “Come, boys, we must shovel the snow
+away and get the fire started up for breakfast.”
+
+“And how are we going to shovel snow without shovels?” queried Andy,
+dubiously.
+
+For a moment a look of comical dismay went around the little group.
+Then Harry partly solved the problem.
+
+“Let’s take the tin plates for a starter,” he said. “After breakfast
+we’ll try to cut out some wooden shovels with the ax and our
+pocket-knives.”
+
+Fortunately, the tin plates made very respectable shovels, although
+using them nearly broke their backs. However, in the course of half an
+hour a space about six feet square in front of the hut was cleared, the
+snow being banked up all around, with the idea of later on building a
+snowhouse.
+
+“The heat from the fire will make the snow pack better,” said Harry.
+“Now for breakfast. I am as hungry as a bear!”
+
+“I’m as hungry as two bears, and I can’t bear my hunger any longer,”
+said Boxy.
+
+“That’s a bare kind of a joke,” grinned Andy.
+
+There was a general laugh. Pickles lit the fire, which roared and
+leaped in the wind. The smell of broiling venison soon put every one in
+good humor.
+
+It had ceased snowing, but the sky was still dark and threatening.
+
+“We’ll have more by night, mark my words,” said Jack. “It has really
+just started.”
+
+After breakfast the boys hunted up some long sticks, and to one end of
+each they either nailed a flat board whittled from a split-up log or
+bound a mass of stout twigs.
+
+“Now we have both shovels and brooms,” cried Jack. “Whoop, now, it’s
+workin’ on de corporation, Oi am, do ye moind!” he went on, strutting
+around with one of the brooms on his shoulder.
+
+“Well, I hope you work a bit faster than street men usually do,”
+returned Harry. “If you don’t, we won’t have much done by nightfall.”
+
+“Oi’ll outdo yez all, so Oi will,” exclaimed Jack, and he sailed in
+with a vigor that left no doubt that he meant what he said.
+
+The first work was to enlarge the circle outside of the doorway. This
+accomplished, Harry, Jack and Andy started to build the snowhouse,
+while Boxy and Pickles climbed up to get the snow from the roof of the
+hut, thus relieving them of any anxiety concerning the top of their
+domicile caving in.
+
+It was no easy matter to build a snowhouse about the fire, but the boys
+worked with a will, and by three o’clock in the afternoon the task was
+finished.
+
+The walls of the new structure rose nearly ten feet, and were three
+feet thick. The entrance to it was from the hut, and a narrow
+passageway which led toward the creek. The top was roofed over, except
+in the center, which was left open to let the smoke from the fire
+escape.
+
+“I don’t know if that is going to last or not,” said Harry. “But we can
+try it anyway.”
+
+“It will last if it remains cold,” returned Jack. “But if it gets
+milder, and the fire blazes up too hotly we’ll have to ‘stand from
+under,’ as the saying is.”
+
+“I don’t believe it is going to get any milder just yet. If anything,
+the thermometer is going down steadily.”
+
+“That is because it is going toward evening. But we’ll know more about
+it in the morning. One thing is certain: hunting is knocked endways for
+a day or two.”
+
+After the work outside was finished, they had another meal, a dinner
+and supper combined, and then withdrew into the hut, where Pickles
+tried to liven up matters by playing his banjo and mouth harmonica and
+singing half-a-dozen songs. The boys joined in the chorus of the songs,
+and soon they were as gay as if the elements were perfect for the
+furtherance of their outing.
+
+“If we have to stay in to-morrow, I am going to try my hand at making
+some traps,” said Andy. “I want to trap something before we go back.”
+
+“So do I!” cried Boxy. “Pickles, you must put us in the way of this.”
+
+“I will, suah!” responded the colored youth. “My dad learned me all
+about traps when I was knee-high to a mosquito.”
+
+“I don’t know what you can trap here,” said Jack. “But it will do no
+harm to try your luck.”
+
+Before they went to bed they looked out, and found it snowing again,
+harder than ever. The wind was rising, too, causing the branches of the
+trees to creak ominously.
+
+“Supposing some of those branches should break off and come down on
+the top of the hut?” asked Boxy. “Wouldn’t we catch it?”
+
+“It would have to be a pretty big branch to do much damage,” replied
+Harry. “Jack and I saw to it that the poles were put up quite firmly.”
+
+“We don’t want to get smashed to bits while we are asleep.”
+
+“I doubt if the wind is yet high enough to break down very much. You
+must remember these trees are very tough, and, standing together, one
+protects another.”
+
+“But if the wind should blow stronger----” insisted Boxy.
+
+“It will wake us up, and we can be on our guard,” replied Harry, and
+there the subject was dropped.
+
+On account of the extreme cold, Pickles was very particular to keep a
+good fire, and for that purpose placed several small logs on the brush.
+
+“Yo’ see we don’t want for to wake up in de moahnin’ all froze to
+deth!” he explained.
+
+“Or so stiff that we’ll have to set each other up against the fire to
+thaw out,” laughed Boxy. “My! but it’s cold, eh?”
+
+“With so much snow it ought to get warmer,” grumbled Andy.
+
+“It will be warmer by to-morrow, I think,” said Jack. “We can thank our
+stars that we have such a comfortable shelter.”
+
+With a last look at the fire, Pickles retired to his corner of the hut.
+Soon the colored youth was snoring peacefully, and the sound made all
+of the others sleepy. One by one they lay down and rolled themselves
+in their blankets, Jack being the last to retire.
+
+How long he slept he never knew. He awakened with a sneeze and a cough,
+which did not come from the cold. He sat up and rubbed his eyes in a
+dazed way. What was the matter?
+
+Suddenly a puff of smoke nearly strangled him. The smoke was followed
+from the outside by a streak of flame! Then he realized what was the
+matter. The campfire had set fire to the hut!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+FIGHTING THE FLAMES.
+
+
+The instant that Jack realized that the hut was on fire he let out a
+cry that brought all of his companions to their feet at a bound.
+
+“What’s the matter?”
+
+“Where does all this smoke come from?”
+
+“The camp is on fire, boys!”
+
+“We must get out or we’ll be burnt to death!”
+
+There was a wild scramble for the doorway, but Jack held every one of
+them back.
+
+“You can’t get out that way!” he exclaimed. “The fire is all around
+there. See there, now!”
+
+A fierce gust of wind at that moment caused the flames to shift about,
+and the doorway, which had been almost black before, now became a sheet
+of living fire!
+
+“We are penned in!” groaned Andy. “What in the world shall we do?”
+
+“We’ll be roasted like so many pigs, suah!” howled Pickles. “Heaben
+have mussy on us!”
+
+“We must cut a way through one of the sides!” cried Harry. “Where is
+the ax?”
+
+In a trice he had the implement in his hands and was working madly to
+cut away enough of the matted branches and twigs to afford them an
+opening sufficient to allow of the passage of their bodies.
+
+In the meantime, the smoke kept growing thicker and thicker. The wood
+was all damp from the quantity of snow upon it, and smoked much more
+than it burned.
+
+“Hurry, or I’ll--be--choked!” gasped Boxy. “I--I can’t--breathe--any
+longer!”
+
+“Lie down on the ground and you’ll breathe easier!” returned Jack.
+
+He threw himself down, and all the others but Harry followed his
+example.
+
+In a minute more Harry had a small opening. This he enlarged as rapidly
+as possible. Soon he was able to crawl through, and he did so, calling
+on the others to follow.
+
+“That was a narrow escape!” cried Andy, as he took a deep breath of the
+cold, pure air that was sweeping up the creek and through the woods.
+“The hut’s a regular smokehouse, isn’t it?”
+
+“We must do something to save it,” put in Jack, hurriedly. “All our
+things are in there, and we can’t afford to lose them.”
+
+“What shall we do, we have no water?” returned Boxy.
+
+“I kin cut a hole in de ice an’ fill de bucket,” said Pickles.
+
+“You do that, Pickles, and we’ll do what we can with snow,” said Harry.
+“Come on, boys, snow is as good as water, if we use enough of it.”
+
+Spurred on by the necessity of the occasion, and also by the novelty,
+the members of the Zero Club set to work with a will. Standing as close
+as they dared, they shoveled and threw great lumps of snow on the
+hissing flames, working first upon that portion of the fire nearest
+to the door of the hut. They were pleased to see that the flames were
+confined principally to the large fuel pile leaning against the hut,
+not to the hut itself.
+
+“I think we are getting the best of it,” cried Jack, after five minutes
+of hard work.
+
+“We are,” returned Harry. “But it is by no means out yet. Keep up the
+good work, all hands!”
+
+Pickles had succeeded in chopping a hole in the ice on the creek, and
+now came back with a bucket of water.
+
+“Give it to me, and I’ll run through the doorway and plant it on any
+blaze inside!” cried Jack, and bucket in hand, he disappeared into the
+hut.
+
+“It’s all right in there, so far,” he said, on reappearing. “Go on with
+the snow.”
+
+They continued to fling the huge chunks of snow on the flames until all
+that remained was a small fire several yards away from the hut entrance.
+
+“Might as well leave that for a campfire,” suggested Harry. “We want
+something to keep us warm and to see by.”
+
+“Phew! but I am warm enough just now!” exclaimed Boxy, wiping the smut
+and perspiration from his face. “That’s the hardest work I have done in
+some time.”
+
+“Be careful that you don’t catch cold,” warned Harry. “The wind cuts
+like a knife to-night.”
+
+“What time is it?”
+
+Jack consulted his watch. It was four o’clock in the morning. By a
+general vote the boys decided that no more sleep would be indulged in
+for that night.
+
+“We can’t rest in the hut anyway,” said Andy. “All is in disorder, and
+some of the blankets are wet.”
+
+“We will hang all the wet things around the campfire to dry,” said
+Jack. “And then we will see what we can do to repair damages.”
+
+“And in the future we’ll be careful how we build our fires,” added
+Boxy. “Not so close to the hut, please, Pickles, after this.”
+
+“Dat’s it!” cried the colored youth. “I dun reckon I’se ’sponsible fo’
+dis muss,” he went on, soberly.
+
+“We ought all of us to have known better,” said Harry, frankly. “In the
+future we must either keep the fire farther off or else somebody must
+sit up and watch it.”
+
+The conflagration had destroyed the greater part of the snowhouse, and
+after the blankets had been hung up to dry, and the hut put in shape
+once more, they set to work to rebuild the tumbled-down walls. This was
+hard work, but it had to be done, so no one grumbled.
+
+By daylight the camp was once more in shape, and the only evidence left
+of the fire was a few charred sticks and the long icicles which hung
+from the top of the hut and the branches of the trees.
+
+“We can thank Providence for escaping with our lives,” remarked
+Jack, earnestly, as they sat down to a hastily-gotten breakfast. “If
+something hadn’t woke me up we might all of us been burnt to death
+while we slept.”
+
+“It was truly a fortunate escape!” returned Harry.
+
+“And one I shall never forget,” added Andy.
+
+“We are having enough adventures for one outing,” laughed Boxy. “I
+wonder what will happen next?”
+
+“Nothing much to-day, I imagine,” said Jack. “See, it is snowing again.”
+
+He was right. While they had been fighting the flames it had ceased,
+but now the white flakes began once more to drift downward, at first
+sparingly, but thick and fast by the time the morning meal was over.
+
+“This means a day in camp, I suppose,” grumbled Boxy. “My! when will it
+stop?”
+
+“When the clouds are empty,” laughed Harry. “Boxy, make the best of it,
+and be thankful we have enough to eat.”
+
+“We’ll set to work making traps,” suggested Jack. “Pickles, come on and
+give us a lesson.”
+
+They withdrew into the hut, leaving the fire to take care of itself.
+They brought several pine torches with them, and these, along with a
+sperm candle, made the interior of the place tolerably light.
+
+For several hours they sat grouped around the colored youth, while he,
+with a jack-knife, half-a-dozen thin slabs of wood, some stout twine
+and several pliable switches, showed them how to construct a squirrel
+trap, a rabbit trap, and also traps for various birds.
+
+“But we can’t do nuthin’ wid dem jess now,” remarked Pickles. “’Cos we
+can’t find no runs in dis snow.”
+
+“Do traps have to be set in runs for wild animals?” asked Boxy.
+
+“Da don’t hab to be, but it’s generally best; yo’ ketches dem quicker.”
+
+After making traps, the boys began to play various games, such as
+throwing the knife, and who’s got the bean, and the like. In this
+manner time went by until it was nearly three o’clock in the afternoon.
+
+They had had a lunch at noon of crackers and cheese, expecting to wait
+until evening before getting another regularly cooked meal, but now
+both Andy and Boxy declared that they were hungry again, and it was
+voted that they should go out, stir up the waning fire and get ready to
+cook a bit of venison in the pot with several onions Pickles had been
+thoughtful enough to bring along.
+
+“You see, we needn’t be afraid of the onions, because we are not going
+out in company this evening,” said Boxy, in imitation of a young
+society miss. “So, Mr. DeBrown won’t have a chance of catching my
+breath.”
+
+“I wonder how things are at Rudskill,” remarked Harry.
+
+“I suppose our folks keep thinking about us,” said Andy. “They’ll
+imagine we are completely snowed under and starving.”
+
+“Yes, it’s a pity they don’t know we are so comfortable,” put in Jack.
+“A good shelter, and plenty to eat are big things out here just now.”
+
+“Hark!” cried Pickles, who stood by the doorway, ready to go out. “What
+am dat?”
+
+“I don’t hear anything,” said Andy, after a brief pause.
+
+“I heard a scratching,” put in Harry, in a whisper.
+
+“It’s some wild animal after food,” returned Jack, in an equally low
+tone of voice.
+
+“What can it be?” questioned Andy.
+
+They were silent after this, and soon the scratching could be heard
+quite plainly.
+
+Then, before they could realize it, something sprang upon the top of
+the hut.
+
+“The deer meat!” cried Harry. “It is all outside, hanging on the tree
+limb!”
+
+“And so are the rest of the rabbits!” put in Jack. “We must go outside
+and shoot that creature, whatever it is!”
+
+Jack caught up his gun, as did also Harry, and together they sallied
+forth in the howling snowstorm.
+
+At first amid the swirling snow they could see nothing. Then Harry
+caught sight of an immense wildcat making off with the venison in its
+mouth.
+
+He took hasty aim and fired. None of the shot reached its mark, and an
+instant later the wildcat was gone, before Jack could get any show at
+it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+BLUE TIMES IN CAMP.
+
+
+“Well, I’ll be blowed!” exclaimed Harry, in deep disgust.
+
+“It’s too bad!” returned Jack. “And he had the last of our venison,
+too!”
+
+The other boys now came out of the hut, and matters were speedily
+explained to them.
+
+“Never mind; we have the rabbits left,” said Boxy, with a sigh of
+relief, as he saw that two of the dead bunnies still hung on the tree
+limb.
+
+“That’s so,” returned Harry. “But two rabbits won’t last five boys very
+long, to my way of thinking.”
+
+“An’ de crackers’ an’ cheese is most gone, too,” put in Pickles. “We
+dun got to shoot or trap somethin’ soon, or starve.”
+
+“Or live on fish,” said Andy, hopefully.
+
+“De trouble is, yo’ can’t always git de fish when yo’ wants dem.”
+
+It was useless to think of going off after the wildcat, and after a
+look around, to make sure that no more marauders were about, the boys
+set to work to prepare a meal of rabbits stewed with onions--a most
+palatable dish, and one which all hands enjoyed.
+
+“Let us see if we can’t set a trap for the wildcat,” suggested Boxy
+while they were eating. “Pickles, couldn’t you fix something strong
+enough to hold him?”
+
+“I might, wid de sled rope an’ a limbery young tree,” replied the
+colored youth.
+
+“Catching the wildcat now would be like locking the barn door after the
+horse has been stolen,” grumbled Jack. “However, catch him if you can,
+and then he won’t be able to worry us any more.”
+
+So, after the meal was finished, and all that was left was carefully
+stowed away, they set to work to build the trap, which, when finished,
+was baited with bits of such meat as remained uncooked.
+
+By five o’clock it was dark, and once again they sought the hut, which
+now had the appearance of a regular home to them. The blankets were
+dry, and Jack took the largest pot and brought it in filled with live
+embers from the fire. This warmed up the place, and the ruddy glow
+pleased them besides.
+
+They tried to be cheerful during the long evening, but were not as
+successful as they wished. They could not help thinking of the almost
+empty larder, and wondering how they should restock it.
+
+The night passed without interruption. The wind blew strongly,
+sometimes causing the trees composing the corner posts of the hut to
+bend slightly, and the snow came down steadily. At eight o’clock in the
+morning the situation remained unchanged.
+
+“Deeper than ever,” muttered Harry, as he gazed out of the doorway.
+“Boys, this is getting serious.”
+
+“It is, when we are running low on food,” said Boxy. “We’ve got about
+enough left for one square meal, and that’s all.”
+
+“Anything in the trap?” asked Andy.
+
+“You would have heard of it before this, if there was,” laughed Harry.
+“It’s just as you fellows left it last night.”
+
+“I suppose that confounded wildcat knows we haven’t anything worth
+coming for,” grumbled Boxy, gloomily. “What’s to be done, anyway?”
+
+“We’ll have breakfast and then hold a council of war,” replied Jack.
+
+Their rather limited meal was soon over, and then they commenced to
+discuss the situation.
+
+“It won’t do to stay in the hut and wait for it to clear off,” remarked
+Harry. “For it may snow two or three days yet.”
+
+“Supposing I tries fo’ anodder fish or two?” suggested Pickles.
+
+“Yes, go and get all the fish you can,” said Jack, and the colored boy
+hurried off without delay, taking his spear with him.
+
+“Somebody ought to go out on a hunt,” said Andy. “I’ll go if no one
+else will.”
+
+“You had better stay home,” replied Jack. “If anybody goes it will be
+myself.”
+
+“And I’ll go with you,” said Harry. “What do you say if we start at
+once?”
+
+“Let us wait till ten o’clock. It will be a bit warmer then and also
+lighter.”
+
+The two at once began their preparations for leaving the hut. They
+wished they had snowshoes, but no one of the party had the least idea
+how a home-made pair could be constructed so as to be of real value.
+
+“I guess we had better follow the creek,” said Harry. “If we go right
+into the woods we may get lost in the snow and be unable to find our
+way back through the storm.”
+
+“You are right,” returned Jack. “Hullo, here comes Pickles on a run!”
+
+“Something is wrong!” cried Boxy. “He looks scared.”
+
+“What’s the trouble, Pickles?” called out Harry.
+
+“Jess my luck, when we needed dem fish de worst way,” groaned the
+colored youth. “I oughter be kicked full ob holes, dat’s a fack!”
+
+“What is it?”
+
+“I dun strike at a big fish, an’ lost de spear!”
+
+“Lost the spear?” cried Andy, in dismay.
+
+“Dat’s it.”
+
+“Did he pull it away from you?” questioned Jack.
+
+“No, de cord broke, an’ dat fish went swimmin’ away wid de spear in his
+tail.”
+
+“Well, that is too bad,” put in Harry.
+
+“De wust of it is I ain’t got no udder spear along,” said Pickles,
+gloomily.
+
+“Can’t you make a spear?”
+
+“I don’t t’ink I kin. Howsomeber, I kin try,” and the colored youth
+brightened up a bit.
+
+“Do so, and if your home-made spear won’t work, try to snare ’em or
+catch ’em in some other way,” said Jack.
+
+“And we’ll help you, while Jack and Harry go gunning,” put in Andy.
+
+As Jack had predicted, by ten o’clock it was both warmer and brighter,
+and he and Harry set off in fairly high spirits, despite the snow which
+lay in their path.
+
+On one side of the creek the snow was swept away for the greater part,
+and along this cleared track they made their way, keeping a sharp
+lookout ahead for possible game.
+
+“We ought to strike a few rabbits or squirrels, if nothing else,” said
+Jack.
+
+“Unless the heavy storm keeps them from venturing out. It’s hard to
+find much in weather like this.”
+
+“But rabbits must come out for food, even if the squirrels stay in.”
+
+“They have their runs, and it’s hard to find them in the open. But come
+on, we’ll do our best toward gaining something for the larder.”
+
+On and on they went, now over a cleared spot, and then again through a
+drift several feet high. It was tough walking, and before a mile had
+been covered both were puffing and blowing like a couple of porpoises.
+
+“Let’s rest for a few minutes!” gasped Harry. “This takes the wind out
+of a fellow!”
+
+“So it does. Come on behind the brush, where it is sheltered.”
+
+They found a cleared spot where some thick bushes would protect them
+from the keen wind and here sat down on a pile of rocks to rest. They
+had been out just an hour without catching sight of the first thing to
+shoot.
+
+“How I would love to stumble into a lot of partridges or wild turkeys!”
+exclaimed Jack. “Wouldn’t we just blaze into them, though?”
+
+“Even a flock of birds wouldn’t be bad, Jack. Anything for food when
+the pot is empty.”
+
+“You’re right. We mustn’t rest here any more than is necessary.”
+
+They were about to proceed on their way, when Jack suddenly caught his
+companion by the arm.
+
+“Look! look! A screech owl!” he whispered.
+
+And the next moment he had his gun to his shoulder and was blazing away
+at a mass of red and white feathers, perched high up in a neighboring
+tree.
+
+There was a terrific screech, and then down tumbled the big bird almost
+at their feet.
+
+He was not quite dead, but a blow from Harry’s gun soon settled him,
+and he lay still in the snow.
+
+“Is he any good for food?” asked Harry, as he surveyed the game.
+
+“He’s better than nothing, that’s certain,” said Jack. “I’ll take him
+along. If we don’t strike anything else, we’ll eat him, and if we do,
+I’ll cart him home and have him stuffed.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+FOUND STARVING.
+
+
+With the screech owl in Jack’s game-bag, the two boys continued on
+their way up the creek.
+
+It was something to have bagged even the carnivorous bird, and they
+felt elated to think that at last something had appeared to be shot at.
+
+By twelve o’clock they calculated that they were close on to two miles
+from camp. Each was hungry, and another halt was called for the purpose
+of eating the scanty lunch with which they had provided themselves
+before starting off.
+
+“We must not go too far off,” said Harry. “For it will never do to
+attempt to remain away over night in this fearful storm.”
+
+“That’s true,” returned Jack. “By three o’clock, game or no game, we
+will turn our faces homeward again.”
+
+“If it would only stop snowing, it wouldn’t be so bad. But this storm
+is the worst I’ve seen in years!”
+
+“It’s a corker, truly! But come on. Every minute counts now!”
+
+Once more they pushed on, the snow swirling around their heads. Their
+legs ached, and it was an effort to make the smallest kind of progress.
+The cold, too, was intense, and at times seemed to strike into the very
+marrow of their bones.
+
+By the time they had covered another mile they grew discouraged. Not
+the first sign of game of any kind had appeared.
+
+“I move we leave the creek,” said Harry, at last. “We won’t go very far
+off, and we’ll locate the way so as not to get lost.”
+
+“All right, we’ll try it, although it isn’t a safe thing to do, Harry.
+But we must risk something for the sake of filling our game-bags.”
+
+“There is a hollow over to our left, with an overhanging cliff of
+bushes and trees. I have an idea we may find something under that. It
+would afford a good shelter for wild animals.”
+
+“Like a wildcat, for instance,” laughed Jack.
+
+“Well, I guess wildcat is just as good to eat as screech owl, if only
+we can lay him out without our being torn to pieces.”
+
+Taking a good look around, so as to locate the vicinity in their minds,
+they struck out in the direction Harry had indicated. The creek was
+soon left behind, and they found themselves going down the side of a
+long hill.
+
+Luckily, there was a bare stretch on the hillside, otherwise they would
+have been compelled to move on in snow up to their waists. But the
+cleared run was where the wind blew the strongest, and this now took
+them almost off their feet.
+
+“Never mind; we’ll be safe under the rocks and brush,” shouted Harry,
+to his companion, above the roaring of the storm. “Look out so that you
+don’t roll down into some hole and out of sight!”
+
+“My! but it’s awful!” cried Jack. “Here, give me your hand, or we will
+be separated and won’t be able to find each other again.”
+
+They took hold of hands, and the next instant the wind threw them down
+on the hillside and rolled them over and over to the bottom.
+
+They landed in a doubled-up mass in the midst of a large drift. Jack
+went in head first, with Harry behind him. For a moment there was
+nothing to do but to flounder around until they could regain their feet.
+
+“Ugh! but that was a cold dose!” cried Jack, as he scraped the snow
+from around his neck and wrists. “We came down with a rush, didn’t we?”
+
+“Yes, we did that,” returned Harry. “It’s a good thing our guns didn’t
+go off in the tumble.”
+
+It was no easy matter to extricate themselves from the big drift. The
+snow was all around them, and at the very first step forward, they went
+down to their armpits.
+
+“Hold on!” cried Harry, in alarm. “Turn up the hill, or we’ll be over
+our heads!”
+
+So they turned about and half walked, half crawled up to solid ground.
+Here they could hardly keep their feet, so strong was the wind.
+
+“There is a clear space to our left,” said Jack. “Come on! We will soon
+be under the cliff!”
+
+Away he went, with Harry close behind him. The shelter under the trees
+and bushes was not less than two hundred feet away.
+
+As they advanced, a peculiar sound broke upon their ears. Jack heard
+it first, and called Harry’s attention to it.
+
+“What can it be?” he said.
+
+“Sounds like some sort of a bird,” replied Harry. “Let us have our guns
+ready. We do not wish to lose any game, now we have come so far for it.”
+
+On they went, with caution now, and their shotguns ready for instant
+use. They were within a hundred feet of the shelter, and could see the
+dim outline through the driving snow.
+
+“Wild turkeys!” suddenly called Harry. “Be careful, we must get as many
+of them as we can!”
+
+He motioned to a little cleared space just ahead. Then, with guns
+pointed, they ran forward.
+
+Bang! bang! Both of the firearms spoke in rapid succession. There was
+a rush and a strange squawking sound, and then the greater part of
+a flock of wild turkeys had disappeared in the storm. But the heavy
+charges had hit three of them, and they were now floundering around in
+their death struggles. The boys ran forward and soon put them out of
+their misery.
+
+“That’s a good haul!” cried Jack, enthusiastically. “Now we won’t
+starve for a day or two at least.”
+
+“Right you are,” returned Harry, as he picked the game up, placed two
+in his own bag and one in his companion’s, and hurried to reload. “But
+we mustn’t miss any other game that may be here.”
+
+“Certainly not,” said Jack, and he reloaded also, and away they went
+along the bottom of the cliff.
+
+In a few minutes they stirred up a whole flock of wild birds of
+several kinds from the brush under the rocks. They fired in the midst
+of them, bringing down several woodcock and three sparrows.
+
+“That isn’t bad,” said Jack, as he picked up the woodcock and allowed
+the sparrows to remain where they were. “It was a good idea of yours to
+come here.”
+
+“I was in hopes we might strike a deer,” returned Harry. “But we have
+now about as much as we can conveniently carry through such traveling
+as this.”
+
+“There ought to be some rabbits or hares here, under the old brush. Let
+us walk to the end of the shelter and----”
+
+“There’s something now!” shouted Harry, raising his gun. “Half-a-dozen
+hares, as sure as you’re born! Quick, Jack!”
+
+Once more the two shotguns spoke, and two of the hares were seen to
+leap into the air and turn over in a heap. When the two boys reached
+the spot they found their prizes stone dead, each shot through the
+head. All the other hares had disappeared behind a thick mass of brush,
+where they could not follow them.
+
+“Now we’ve got enough, surely,” said Harry, as they divided the game
+between them. “Wild turkeys, hares, woodcock and an owl, not to mention
+those sparrows. Who could ask for more?”
+
+Jack did not reply, as he was busy getting out his watch.
+
+“Phew! How late do you suppose it is?” he cried.
+
+“Three o’clock?”
+
+“Quarter-past four! We must start back at once!”
+
+“I should say so!” exclaimed Harry. “It’s going to be a job to get up
+out of this hollow and find the creek again, and it will be dark before
+we know it.”
+
+“Not only that; but the snow is coming down in perfect blankets. We’ll
+be buried in spite of ourselves if we don’t put our best foot forward.”
+
+“Come on down to the end of the shelter and make a beeline for the
+creek,” said Harry, as he slung his gun over his shoulder. “We can
+escape some of the wind by going that way.”
+
+To this Jack agreed, and in another minute they started off side by
+side.
+
+They had almost reached the end of the overhanging rocks when a low cry
+of distress broke upon their ears. They came to a halt, and gazed at
+each other in wonder.
+
+“What was that?”
+
+“It sounded like a human voice.”
+
+“Help! help!” came faintly to their ears, and now they located the cry.
+It proceeded from a small cave-like opening but a few feet away.
+
+They ran forward, and a moment later saw a sight that appalled them
+beyond measure.
+
+There in the snow, huddled in a miserable group, were Pete Sully, Bill
+Dixon and Len Spencer, a fixed look of despair on each of their pinched
+and frozen faces.
+
+“Why, Sully----” began Harry.
+
+“Give me something to eat, please!” broke in the big fellow, staggering
+to his feet. “Something to eat!”
+
+“Yes, yes, give us something to eat!” chimed in Bill Dixon and Len
+Spencer, imploringly.
+
+Harry and Jack looked at them in amazement. A single glance was enough.
+The bully of Rudskill and his companions were almost starved to death!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+IMMEDIATE WANTS SUPPLIED.
+
+
+It is no wonder that Harry and Jack were for the moment so dumfounded
+that they could do little else than stare at the sight of the three
+haggard and pinched faces which gazed imploringly into their own.
+
+“Don’t say you won’t give us anything,” cried Pete Sully, seeing they
+did not reply. “We are starved--we haven’t had a mouthful to eat since
+yesterday morning!”
+
+“My gracious!” It was Jack who uttered the exclamation. “Nothing to eat
+since yesterday morning!”
+
+“It’s too bad, Sully,” put in Harry. “We’ll cook you something just as
+quick as we can.”
+
+“Never mind cooking it; give us one of those birds raw!” cried Dixon.
+“We can’t wait.”
+
+“Here is a bit left of our lunch,” said Jack. “Eat that while we are
+building a fire. What’s the trouble--couldn’t you shoot anything?” he
+went on. “And why haven’t you a fire?”
+
+“We lost our matches--they were in our traps, which were taken from us,
+and the snow kept us from going for game,” said Sully.
+
+“We did try to shoot some, but we couldn’t hit anything,” chimed in Len
+Spencer.
+
+The three starved youths were too weak to assist in gathering fuel for
+a campfire, so Jack and Harry let them sit still while the two of them
+bustled around with all speed.
+
+Soon a big blaze of brush was soaring skyward, around which the
+half-frozen trio crouched. Three of the birds were cleaned and spitted,
+and it was not long before the smell of the broiling meat filled the
+air.
+
+“Oh, but that smells good!” exclaimed Dixon, taking in a long whiff.
+“Don’t keep it over the fire too long, please!”
+
+“Here you are,” returned Harry, passing the bird over whole. “Take my
+advice, and don’t down it too fast, or your stomach won’t stand it.”
+
+Sully and Spencer were also supplied with a bird each, and it was a
+sight worth seeing to behold them tearing and chewing the meat like a
+starved dog does a long-sought bone.
+
+While the trio ate, Jack and Harry said nothing. They broiled one of
+the hares, and of this took a small portion, passing the remainder over
+to the unfortunates. But the two young hunters kept up a big thinking.
+
+How had their enemies been humbled! Here they were craving food in the
+most abject fashion known. Neither Jack nor Harry could find it in his
+heart to upbraid them for their former misdoings.
+
+“This makes me feel like myself once more,” said Sully at length, after
+he had finished his bird, and was attacking a bit of the other meat.
+“If you fellows hadn’t come along we would have been corpses by night!”
+
+“Where were you bound?” asked Jack.
+
+“We were trying to get to Rudd’s Landing, but the heavy snowstorm
+overtook us, and we got lost and finally wandered here.”
+
+“Where are we now?” asked Dixon.
+
+“You are several miles from the lake,” returned Harry. “You can never
+go across it in this storm.”
+
+“We’ve got to go somewhere,” put in Spencer, dismally. “Oh, I wish I
+was home! You’ll never catch me trying to go camping in the woods in
+the winter again!”
+
+“When did you leave Rudskill?” asked Harry of Sully.
+
+The bully of the town hung his head. For once he felt thoroughly
+ashamed of himself.
+
+“We left the same day we had the trouble with you about the iceboat,”
+he replied, in a low voice. “We made up our minds to have a rival camp.”
+
+“Did you come up by the way of Rudd’s Landing?”
+
+“No, we took the cars to Bagsville.”
+
+“And then went down into the valley and built the lean-to?”
+
+“Yes, after we--we came to your camp,” faltered Sully.
+
+“And played ghost and took our traps, eh?” said Jack, a little bitterly.
+
+“Yes; but Bascoe, I hope you--you’ll forgive us,” faltered Sully.
+
+“It was awful mean to do, and now you are treating us so good--better
+than we deserve,” put in Spencer, in a choking tone.
+
+“It got us into a lot of trouble,” remarked Harry. “We came near being
+arrested for the chickens you stole.”
+
+“We didn’t steal any chickens,” cried Dixon.
+
+“You didn’t! Well, those farmers thought so. That’s the reason they
+took your traps.”
+
+“We bought those chickens from some men on the road,” said Spencer.
+“But we only paid fifteen cents apiece for them, and after the men were
+gone we came to the conclusion that the fowls must have been stolen,
+and we were sure of it when those farmers took our things.”
+
+“Then why did you run away--why didn’t you come out boldly and explain
+matters?”
+
+“We knew it would do no good, for the evidence was all against us, as
+we had been hunting near one of the farmer’s places, and he had seen
+us. Besides, we didn’t want to meet you fellows after we had taken your
+traps.”
+
+A silence followed, and then Spencer came and placed his hand on
+Harry’s shoulder.
+
+“Say, won’t you forgive us, Webb? I’m sorry, and I know Pete and Bill
+are, too.”
+
+“Well, let it pass,” returned Harry, briefly.
+
+“I guess you have suffered enough,” added Jack. “But, mind you, no more
+funny work in the future.”
+
+“I’ll never do any harm to you fellows again!” cried Pete Sully.
+
+“Nor I,” exclaimed Billy Dixon. “You fellows have been kind when we
+didn’t deserve it.”
+
+The fire had burned a trifle low during the talk, but now Jack and
+Harry replenished it, and soon the cave-like shelter was as warm as
+toast.
+
+In the meantime the snow came down as thickly as ever outside, and the
+wind whistled merrily through the brush and trees around and above
+them. A doubtful look came into Harry’s face as he listened to it.
+
+“What time is it, Jack?” he asked.
+
+“Nearly five o’clock.”
+
+“Can we make camp before it gets too dark?”
+
+“It will be hard work. But once on the creek the darkness ought not to
+bother us. But what of these fellows?” Jack continued, in a low tone.
+“We can’t leave them behind.”
+
+“And we can’t very well take them along,” said Harry.
+
+“If it wasn’t for the others wondering what had become of us, we might
+stay here over night and go back in the morning,” Jack went on, after a
+thoughtful pause. “This seems a very good place to roost.”
+
+“But the others would think we had missed our way in the snow and got
+lost, and they would worry themselves sick. We said nothing about
+remaining away over night,” replied Harry.
+
+“We might leave these fellows here until to-morrow, and then come back
+and show them the way,” Jack suggested.
+
+“Don’t leave us alone, please don’t!” cried Spencer, who was the
+greatest coward of the party. “Take us with you!”
+
+“You are not strong enough to walk to our camp,” said Harry. “You
+would play out before you got half-way.”
+
+“Well, don’t leave us, that’s good fellows,” said Dixon.
+
+“One of us might stay and the other might go back,” suggested Harry.
+“And then in the morning the party from here could start down the
+creek.”
+
+“That’s so,” put in Sully, eagerly. “One of you stay, and leave some of
+the grub behind.”
+
+The matter was talked over a few minutes longer, and then it was
+decided that this plan should be followed.
+
+A cent was tossed up to see who should undertake the immediate return
+to the camp on the creek, and the lot fell to Harry. He left all the
+game behind but two of the wild turkeys, and five minutes later had
+disappeared in the swirling snow beyond the shelter of the cliff.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+LAST OF THE WILDCAT.
+
+
+Harry knew that he had no easy task before him, yet he started out with
+a brave heart, resolved to cover the distance to the camp as quickly as
+possible.
+
+Knowing how great was the force of the wind, he buttoned his overcoat
+tightly about him and strapped his game-bag and gun to his person in
+such a way that they could not be lost, no matter how many tumbles and
+plunges in the immense snowdrifts were taken.
+
+“If I move right along I ought to strike camp by seven or half-past,”
+he murmured to himself, as he struck out for the creek. “Ugh! but this
+is beastly!”
+
+The first blast around the edge of the shelter nearly threw him flat on
+his back, so strong was it. The hard snow was dashed into his face as
+if it was sand thrown by a shovel in the hands of a laborer. He gasped
+in spite of himself.
+
+“It’s getting wilder instead of moderating,” he thought. “This must be
+something like a Western blizzard. How bleak and desolate it looks on
+all sides!”
+
+Fortunately, Harry found a streak of land almost clear of snow, and
+stretching away toward where the creek ran. Along this stretch he now
+pursued his course, stopping only occasionally, to catch his breath and
+prepare for the coming of an extra-heavy blast.
+
+The snow was blinding, and it was a wonder that he did not become
+turned around. But he kept on in a straight line from the cliff, and
+this was bound, sooner or later, to bring him to the watercourse he was
+seeking.
+
+Presently the bared streak was passed, and now he was compelled to
+force his way along through snow that was from two inches to two feet
+deep. The deep places tired him not a little, and by the time the
+vicinity of the creek was reached he could scarcely drag one foot after
+the other.
+
+“Thank fortune I am this far!” he exclaimed, half-aloud, as the trees
+which lined the watercourse came into sight through the driving snow.
+“Now, there is at least no danger of getting lost, no matter what other
+peril confronts me.”
+
+The thought had hardly passed through his mind when he stepped into a
+snowdrift and sank down to his waist. He struggled to get out, but only
+went the deeper.
+
+“My gracious! this won’t do,” he cried, in alarm. “There must be a
+hollow below me that has been filled up.”
+
+He struggled on for a step or two, and then went down to his armpits,
+and only saved himself from going down still farther by putting out his
+arms and hands flatly on the snow around him.
+
+He was now thoroughly scared, expecting every instant to be smothered
+to death in the snow. There was no use in trying to go ahead farther.
+He must get back to the high ground.
+
+It was a hard and precarious struggle the lad had to leave the
+deep snow. But at last he wormed his way around, and half-stepped,
+half-rolled back to where he had stood a few minutes before. The loose
+snow had gotten into his sleeves and his collar, and this chilled him,
+despite the exertions he had made.
+
+After this experience, he was cautious in his further forward
+movements. He walked along the edge of the hollow for several hundred
+feet, and did not attempt to gain the creek until a pathway that was
+nearly bare presented itself. Then he passed the thin belt of timber,
+and finally found himself on the ice of the watercourse.
+
+Here he stopped for a rest, crouching behind a number of trees and
+rocks for protection. He had covered about one-third of the distance to
+camp, and it had taken nearly an hour to do it. At this rate it would
+be long after dark ere his journey came to an end.
+
+Harry did not dare to rest too long, fearing that the cold would make
+him drowsy and cause him to go to sleep, from which he would probably
+never awaken. He remained behind the trees and rocks just long enough
+to “catch his wind,” and then set off as rapidly as he could down the
+creek.
+
+One-half of the distance down the watercourse was completed, and the
+boy was just congratulating himself on the fine progress he was making
+when a sound reached his ear that literally made his hair stand on end.
+
+It was the cry of a wildcat, and it came from the brush immediately on
+his left!
+
+The cry lasted only a short while, but Harry had heard it before, and
+he at once recognized it.
+
+He knew the creature was out seeking food. Most likely it was in a
+half-starved condition, and fierce beyond expression.
+
+The boy did not know what to do. To flee was out of the question. The
+creature could easily reach him if it so wished. Nor would it avail to
+climb a tree.
+
+He must prepare to defend himself should the wildcat attack him, and
+he unslung his gun with all the haste possible, and got it ready for
+immediate use.
+
+The cry of the creature was repeated after a short interval of silence,
+but the wildcat did not as yet show itself.
+
+With his heart thumping violently in his breast, Harry continued on his
+way, but with his glance over his shoulder in the direction from which
+the sound had proceeded.
+
+A hundred feet farther on, the creek made a bend, and here it grew
+narrower. He kept in the middle of the frozen stream, but the trees on
+either side were not ten feet away.
+
+Suddenly the cry broke out again, so close to him that Harry sprang
+back and hoisted his gun to his shoulder. Then the wildcat appeared
+from over the top of a flat rock and made a leap directly for the
+throat of the boy.
+
+Bang! went the gun, and the shot flew for the greater part under the
+creature’s body. Several pierced its front legs, and, with a snarl that
+was tigerish in its intensity, it fell directly at Harry’s feet.
+
+Hardly had it landed on the ice when, with its hind legs, it made
+another leap at the boy, who endeavored to ward it off by thrusting the
+point of the gun barrel at it. The muzzle entered the wildcat’s open
+mouth, and once more it was forced to drop back upon its haunches.
+
+Harry turned to flee, and gained several yards before the beast could
+steady itself on its wounded legs and make after him. But soon the
+wildcat was close at his heels, and, with a screech, it fastened itself
+on his back.
+
+Whirling about, Harry shook off the dreaded creature with such force
+that the wildcat went over on its back on the ice. Before it could
+recover, he dealt it a blow on the side with the gun that sent it
+spinning over the ice for a distance of several yards.
+
+Harry wished he had time to reload the gun, but this was out of the
+question. The wildcat was wounded and dazed, but in less than five
+seconds it was up again, and, with added fierceness, it came at the boy
+a third time.
+
+Harry knew it was now a fight to the finish, and his courage was
+aroused to its highest pitch. As the wildcat leaped for him, he sprang
+to one side, and once again brought his gun down, this time flat on the
+creature’s head.
+
+There was a sharp crack and a shrill cry, and the wildcat lay still.
+More than likely its skull was crushed in.
+
+Not to take any chances, should the creature be shamming, Harry hastily
+reloaded, and then, stepping up to the animal, he discharged the gun
+directly at its head. There was no sign of life. The wildcat was dead.
+
+“Thank fortune!” he murmured to himself. “That’s what I call a good job
+done!”
+
+With a bit of cord, Harry suspended the dead body to the limb of a
+tree, that he might come back some other time and get the skin for its
+fur, and then he continued on his journey.
+
+The excitement attending the journey was nothing compared to what he
+had just passed through, and he thought no more of the hardships of the
+walk through wind and snow. He pressed steadily on, and at a little
+before eight o’clock reached the outskirts of the well-known spot for
+which he was bound.
+
+Coming in sight of the campfire he let out a shout to notify the others
+of his approach. There was no answer.
+
+“Must be in the hut asleep,” he muttered, and pressed forward until the
+open doorway was reached.
+
+But the hut was empty! The camp was deserted!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+THE SNOW SIEGE ENDED.
+
+
+For the moment Harry was alarmed. What could have become of those left
+behind in charge of Camp Rest?
+
+“Perhaps they grew anxious about Jack and me and have gone out to hunt
+us up,” he reasoned. “I’ll call them again.”
+
+He went out and yelled at the top of his lungs. At first there was no
+reply, but presently came a call from some distance down the lake.
+
+Ten minutes later Andy and Boxy appeared side by side, with Pickles
+behind them, carrying a heavy string of fish.
+
+“We’ve been spearing and snaring fish all afternoon,” explained Andy.
+“See, we have caught nine, and none of them less than a pound in
+weight! Where is Jack?”
+
+“I left him behind in another camp,” returned Harry.
+
+“He isn’t sick or hurt, is he?” cried Andy, quickly.
+
+“No, but he’s in charge of three sick young fellows,” and Harry smiled
+quizzically.
+
+“Three sick young fellows,” repeated Boxy. “Whom do you mean?”
+
+“Pete Sully, Dixon and Spencer.”
+
+“No!” roared both Andy and Boxy.
+
+“Yo’ doan’ say,” added Pickles. “If dat ain’t de wuss yit!”
+
+They were soon about the campfire, and here, while Pickles cleaned the
+wild turkeys and fish, Harry told them of what had happened since Jack
+and he had started out on the search for game.
+
+The others listened with deep interest. They were all affected when
+they learned how the bully and his companions had been found literally
+starving, and were glad to hear that Jack and Harry had treated them
+kindly.
+
+“It ought to make Sully and the others mend their ways,” said Andy.
+
+“It will, if I am not greatly mistaken,” returned Harry. “Certainly,
+they will never try to harm us again.”
+
+Harry was thoroughly tired out, and was the first to roll himself up
+and go to sleep. One after another the others followed, and by nine
+o’clock Camp Rest was as silent as the grave, for the wind died out
+utterly.
+
+In the morning a welcome surprise awaited the boys. The snow had ceased
+falling, and the sun was coming up as clear as a disc of gold over the
+hills.
+
+“Hurrah! the snow siege is ended!” shouted Boxy. “And right glad am I
+of it!”
+
+“I guess we all are,” said Andy. “I was sick of being snowed in. Now,
+if it remains clear, we may have a chance to go out by to-morrow.”
+
+“Yes; I hope it stays clear for the rest of the outing,” put in Harry.
+“It is no fun to be out in a snowstorm with the wind blowing a perfect
+gale in your face.”
+
+After breakfast the camp was put in order in anticipation of Jack’s
+return with the unfortunate trio. Fresh pine boughs were placed in one
+corner of the hut, in case any of the unfortunates should be exhausted
+by the trip and wish to lie down.
+
+Harry had told of his adventure with the wildcat, and Andy said he
+hoped his brother and the others would not encounter such a beast.
+
+They waited around the campfire until noon. Then one after another
+began to grow uneasy.
+
+“He ought to be here by this time,” murmured Andy, for at least the
+tenth time.
+
+“That’s so,” said Boxy. “He’s had four hours of daylight and more.”
+
+“I dun racken he waited fo’ de sun to git wahmer,” said Pickles, and
+this proved to be the case.
+
+The dinner was cooking over the stone oven when a shout was heard
+up the creek, and there appeared Jack, carrying on his strong young
+shoulders Len Spencer, while beside him walked Pete Sully with the
+game-bag and Bill Dixon with the guns. Every one of the crowd looked
+thoroughly tired out.
+
+The boys around the campfire gave a cheer, to which Jack responded
+rather feebly. Sully and the others were too ashamed to utter a sound.
+
+Andy and Boxy saw at a glance how mean they felt, and did what they
+could to make matters easy for them. They realized that the spirits of
+their enemies were broken, and they had no desire to do any heartless
+“crowing” because of this.
+
+Sully and Dixon were able to take care of themselves, but Spencer had
+collapsed when almost in sight of camp, and had now to be given every
+possible care. He was laid in the hut, and Pickles made the boy who
+had been his own individual enemy a cup of broth which Spencer stowed
+away gratefully.
+
+During the afternoon Sully was persuaded to tell his story, to which
+Dixon added his own experiences. We will not go into the details.
+Suffice it to say that the outing of the three had been a dismal
+failure from the start, and they were now anxious for but one thing--to
+get home again.
+
+“I don’t see how you can get back, excepting you cross the lake and
+find a road to Rudd’s Landing,” said Harry.
+
+“Isn’t there a railroad station down the lake on this side?” asked
+Dixon.
+
+“Why, yes--Andrewsville!” cried Boxy. “It must be about three miles
+from here.”
+
+“Then we’ll try to get to that place,” said Sully. “We can take the
+cars from there to Bagsville, where we can try to get our traps back,
+and then go from Bagsville to Rudskill. I don’t want any more tramping
+through the woods--at least not during the winter.”
+
+During the remainder of that day all hands took it easy. The sun shone
+brightly, and on every side the snow went down as if by magic.
+
+Early next morning all hands were stirring around the fire. Spencer
+felt once more like himself, and the unfortunate trio determined to set
+out for Andrewsville without delay. A good breakfast was had, and then
+Sully, Dixon and Spencer bid the members of the Zero Club good-by.
+
+It was a trying moment when the bully and his companions offered to
+shake hands all around.
+
+“I--I hope you fellows have the best kind of a time,” he said, in a
+low voice. “As for ourselves, we--we didn’t deserve it, and that’s all
+there is to it,” and off he strode; and a moment later the trio were
+gone out of sight, beyond the bend that led down the lake.
+
+A long breath of relief went around. Everybody wanted to say something
+about the departed ones, but, somehow, the right words wouldn’t just
+come, and all were silent.
+
+The sun was shining as it had the day previous, but it was colder. Jack
+and Andy had tried the snow about the camp, and found it everywhere
+covered with a heavy crust.
+
+“Good! Now, if we can fit our boots with some sort of flat strips of
+wood, we can walk on most of the snow without much difficulty,” said
+Jack.
+
+“I’ve got an idea,” said Harry, slowly. “I move we strike camp and
+spend the balance of our outing in some other locality.”
+
+“I would just as lief!” cried Boxy. “This is a tour, you know. Let us
+go up the lake a few miles.”
+
+The matter was talked over, and it was decided as Boxy wished. Harry
+left his wildcat pelt behind.
+
+Long before noon they were on the way, leaving the hut and the stone
+oven standing, as well as the snowhouse.
+
+“Now for several days of fresh adventures, and then for home!” cried
+Harry. “Boys, I do not think we can complain of lack of lively times
+since we have been away.”
+
+“No,” returned Jack. “Sometimes the times have been a bit too lively.
+However, we are all safe and well, so we have no cause to complain.”
+
+On and on over the frozen lake they went until fully four miles had
+been covered. They then came to a large cove, beyond which was a most
+attractive opening among a cluster of giant oaks and walnuts.
+
+“How will that do?” asked Andy, and they decided on the spot that it
+would answer very well.
+
+A sheltered nook between three great trees was soon selected for a
+temporary camp, and Pickles at once set to work to build a fire and put
+the pot on to boil.
+
+“Kase it always smells moah like home when de meat’s cookin’,” he said,
+with a full show of his ivories.
+
+Before starting to build a hut or find a shelter under the rocks back
+of the cluster of trees, the members of the Zero Club decided to make a
+short trip around the place.
+
+They set off through the snow, and in a few minutes were surprised
+to strike a regular country road, along both sides of which ran a
+barbed-wire fence.
+
+“Hullo! this is too near civilization to suit me!” cried Harry. “We may
+be squatting on private property.”
+
+“That’s so,” returned Boxy. “We’ll have to move on a mile or two.”
+
+They passed down the road for a few hundred yards and then came in
+sight of a large farmhouse, directly behind which was a stable and barn
+and half-a-dozen out-buildings.
+
+“I wouldn’t mind going to the house and buying some bread and crackers
+and a pie, if they had them,” said Andy. “Pumpkin pie would go mighty
+good for a change.”
+
+“So it would!” exclaimed Boxy. “Let us see what we can strike. We can
+pay---- Hullo! what’s the meaning of that?”
+
+Boxy came to a sudden halt, and so did the others. They had just seen
+a man run from the back of the barn and disappear in a patch of woods.
+Hardly had he gone when a thick cloud of smoke rolled out of one of the
+open doors of the barn.
+
+“He has set that barn on fire!” gasped Andy. “My! just look at the
+smoke.”
+
+“Come on, boys! we must put that fire out!” cried Harry, springing
+ahead.
+
+And away they dashed at top speed toward the burning structure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+A LIVELY TIME.
+
+
+It took the members of the Zero Club less than two minutes to reach the
+burning barn.
+
+As they neared it they saw a man rush out of the kitchen of the
+farmhouse.
+
+He was bareheaded and screaming at the top of his voice:
+
+“Help! fire! help!”
+
+“We’ll help you!” cried Jack. “Are your pails handy? Where’s the well?”
+
+“The well is here by the back door! Samanthy, get the milk pails an’
+all the buckets you can find! The barn’s afire!”
+
+From out of the kitchen came a woman’s scream. Ten seconds later an
+elderly female appeared, carrying half-a-dozen milk pails, a small
+wooden tub and a slop bucket.
+
+In the meantime, Boxy was turning the well handle just as fast as he
+could and filling the big half-cask that stood beneath the spout. By
+the time it was half full the others had the pails and were dipping
+them in.
+
+Harry and Jack and the farmer were the first to dash down to the barn.
+The fire was in a mass of hay near the feed box, and on this they
+dashed the water they carried.
+
+“I’d like to know who sot this afire?” growled the farmer, wrathfully.
+
+“We saw a man leave the barn and jump the rear fence,” replied Jack.
+
+“Wot kind of a looking man?”
+
+“A tall fellow, with a soft, light hat and a blue overcoat.”
+
+“Jim Lemkins, sure as fate!” howled the farmer. “He’ll have to be
+locked up again; commencin’ his old tricks.”
+
+“Who is Jim Lemkins?” asked Harry, as they went for more water.
+
+“A half-crazy chap from the village. He has caused no end of fires
+around here. But he won’t cause any more--not if I have the say of it!”
+
+Nothing more was said just then, all hands paying attention to the
+fire. The big barn doors were closed to keep out the draught, and
+in five minutes what had promised to be a serious conflagration was
+completely put out.
+
+“Phew! but that was warm work!” exclaimed the farmer, after the last of
+the sparks were stamped out.
+
+“You can be thankful that it is no worse,” remarked Harry.
+
+“So I be. You fellers worked like you understood what you was about.”
+
+“We’ve had one experience at putting out a fire,” returned Jack, dryly.
+“We are out camping, and our hut caught and nearly burned us up.”
+
+“Gee shoo! Well, the damage here ain’t much, thanks to your comin’
+along an’ giving a hand. Won’t you come into the house?”
+
+“Thank you, we were going to stop just as the fire broke out,” replied
+Harry.
+
+“Is that so?” returned the farmer, questioningly.
+
+“Yes,” added Boxy. “We wanted to see if we couldn’t buy some fresh
+bread, crackers and pie from you. We’ve run out of everything but meat
+and coffee at our camp.”
+
+“Well, maybe Samanthy can fix you up. Come on in.”
+
+Seeing to it that none of the live sparks had escaped their notice, the
+party left the barn and entered the kitchen of the farmhouse, where all
+was cozy and warm. The farmer’s wife had preceded them, and now thanked
+them as her husband had done for their help.
+
+“They want to buy some fresh bread, cake and pie, Samanthy. They are
+out campin’, and run out of that kind of stuff.”
+
+“They can’t buy none, Job, but they can have all I can spare, an’
+welcome,” replied the wife, warmly.
+
+The matter was talked over for a few minutes, and then the good lady
+visited her pantry and brought forth two loaves of bread, a currant
+jelly layer cake and a large apple pie.
+
+“Here you be, an’ welcome,” she said.
+
+“Now, if you want any vegetables, say the word, and they be yours,”
+said the farmer. “The cellar an’ the barn are more’n full.”
+
+Once again the matter was talked over, and when the boys were ready
+to leave, they had, in addition to the bread, cake and pastry, a large
+basket completely filled with potatoes, turnips, onions, beans and
+cabbage, enough to last them until the end of their outing.
+
+When they were thanking the country folks for their kindness, a cutter
+drove up to the horse-block, and a young and buxom countrywoman rushed
+into the house. She proceeded to hug and kiss the old couple.
+
+“Such news, ma!” she burst out. “Uncle Ben and three sleigh loads are
+coming over to-night for a dance! They are going to bring old Fiddler
+Dick and an Italian harp player along. Henry and I want you to come
+over sure!”
+
+“Humph! I’m most too old for a shin-dig like that,” said the farmer,
+but, nevertheless, he smiled broadly.
+
+“So be I,” added the wife, but she, too, looked pleased.
+
+“Oh, you must come, both of you!” insisted the young country wife,
+impulsively. “And you----” and then she broke off short and gazed at
+the four boys who had stepped to one side out of the way.
+
+“My daughter,” said the old farmer, presenting her to the boys. “Sarah,
+these young fellows just helped me put a fire out in the barn--one that
+crazy Jim Lemkins had started. I don’t know their names, but they are
+from Rudskill and are out camping.”
+
+With all the polish at his command, Harry stepped forward and
+introduced his chums and then himself. The young woman shook hands and
+then asked numerous questions about the affair.
+
+Quite a friendly conversation ensued, and then it transpired that the
+farmer, whose name was Brodhead, knew Jack and Andy’s father. He asked
+the boys how their parent was, and while he was doing this the daughter
+of the house began a whispered conversation with her mother.
+
+“So many girls, you know, ma,” Harry heard her say. “And they look like
+real nice chaps, too.”
+
+“Well, do as you see fit, Sarah,” replied the mother. “They certainly
+deserve any good time we can give ’em.”
+
+Then the young woman blushed and stammered, but finally invited the
+boys to attend the sleigh-ride party at her home, a mile up the lake
+shore.
+
+“There will be lots of girls to dance with,” she added, with a little
+laugh. “And we shall have a great number of games, too.”
+
+“You are very kind,” began Harry, and then he looked at his companions.
+One glance was sufficient. Every one wanted to go; and so it was
+settled that they would attend a regular country dance that night at
+eight o’clock.
+
+Ten minutes later they were on their way back to the lake shore, where
+they found Pickles wondering what had become of them. A dinner of meat
+was ready, but they kept it waiting long enough to add some roast
+potatoes, and when they ate the meal they topped off with the pie,
+which, as Boxy put it, “struck home every time.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+AT THE COUNTRY DANCE.
+
+
+For the balance of the day nothing was talked of but the party they
+were going to attend. Pickles had not been forgotten, and he was to
+join in a hoe-down in the barn, where the farm hands were going to have
+their jollification.
+
+Boxy and Andy spent a good bit of the time over their toilet, and it
+must be confessed that Jack and Harry did the same.
+
+“We are not fit for a city party, but I guess we look well enough for
+this country affair,” remarked Jack. “Our clothing is clean, and when
+we wash and comb up we’ll pass in a crowd.”
+
+It was decided not to move camp until the following day, and a rude
+shelter was constructed under the trees, where the traps were hidden.
+It was not likely that they would return to the spot until nearly
+sunrise.
+
+The party was expected to arrive at the farmhouse up the lake at about
+eight o’clock, and at half-past seven the boys set out for the place,
+without taking the trouble to replenish the campfire.
+
+They had been given minute directions concerning the road, and had no
+difficulty in reaching their destination.
+
+As they came in sight of the farmhouse, which was lit up from cellar to
+garret, they saw that the sleigh loads of relatives and neighbors had
+just arrived. They hurried in, and a few minutes later were introduced
+all around.
+
+“Make yourselves at home,” said Henry Akers, Sarah’s husband. “I’ve
+heard o’ the service you did my father-in-law, and I am as thankful as
+he is that his barn wasn’t burnt down.”
+
+The fiddler and the harpist were stationed in a corner of the broad
+hallway, and the sitting-room and the kitchen had been cleared for
+dancing. Soon the lively strains of a Virginia reel broke the ice all
+around and set everybody to talking and laughing.
+
+“Choose partners fer the reel!” shouted the master of ceremonies, a
+village dandy, who had a chrysanthemum as large as a saucer stuck in
+his buttonhole.
+
+“Good gracious, I can’t dance!” whispered Andy, and off he ran to a
+corner and was soon talking and laughing with a crowd of boys and
+girls. Boxy joined him, and they managed to have a real good time until
+supper.
+
+Harry and Jack found two pretty country girls of about their own age
+willing to dance, and joined the two lines that were forming at the
+head of the sitting-room. Soon nearly everybody in the house was in
+line, old Job Brodhead and his wife leading off.
+
+Once again the fiddler and the harp player tuned up and started the
+reel, and away the dancers went, one couple after the other, forward
+and back, forward and around, forward and join hands, and all the rest
+of it. Some mistakes were made, and it grew mighty warm toward the
+end. But nobody minded this, and all laughed and cracked jokes, and
+when, nearly an hour later, the reel was ended, every one was on the
+best possible terms with every one else.
+
+“I’ll slip down to the barn and see how Pickles is making out,”
+whispered Harry, and off he went, leaving Jack to entertain the girls
+they had danced with.
+
+Harry found the colored youth in his glory. Pickles had brought his
+banjo along, and was entertaining the other colored people and the farm
+hands with plantation songs and tunes. It was not long before word
+was sent from the farmhouse to come up and entertain the others. And
+Pickles had to go.
+
+In the meantime cider was flowing, and apples and nuts were passed
+around on all sides. About eleven o’clock the kitchen was cleared, and
+the older women went to work to set the tables for supper.
+
+After the reel came other dances in the sitting-room and hall--waltzes,
+quadrilles and the like, and Harry and Jack and two of the young ladies
+who had been to dancing school danced the latest two-step, while the
+older folks looked on.
+
+At last supper was announced, and such a feast as that was! There was
+enough three times over, and everything of the best. All of the boys
+were urged to eat, until Boxy whispered to Andy that every button was
+ready to burst off. It was a country supper never to be forgotten! They
+finished off with mince pie, and nuts, and raisins, and it was after
+one o’clock when the feast was declared at an end.
+
+Then came several toasts. First old Job Brodhead made a little speech,
+and then his son-in-law, and after this half-a-dozen neighbors.
+
+“Maybe our young friends from Rudskill kin speak pieces,” said Mother
+Brodhead, and then half a dozen clustered around Harry and Jack and the
+others, demanding something from them.
+
+Luckily, Andy and Boxy knew a funny dialogue which they got off amid
+much laughter. Then Jack recited “The Sword of Bunker Hill.”
+
+“Now it’s your turn, Harry,” they said, after he had finished.
+
+Harry had been thinking of what to recite, and a few scraps of an
+original song floated into his mind. He gave it in his own sweet tenor
+voice, and it fairly took the country folk by storm. He was _encored_
+so much that he had to follow with several others.
+
+“You’re the hero of the evening,” whispered Jack, and Harry flushed
+furiously when the pretty girl beside him said the same thing.
+
+Then Pickles was called in, and soon the colored boy had every one
+joining in the chorus of “Sweet Times Comin’ By and By,” and “Who’s Dat
+A-nockin’ at De Doah?” Then Pickles gave a breakdown, and got several
+of the old countrymen so warmed up that they took off their coats and
+joined in.
+
+Following the singing came half-a-dozen games, hunt the slipper,
+pillows and keys, fortune-telling, forfeits and the like. Perhaps some
+kissing was done, too, but in telling the story to me the boys whose
+fortunes I am relating did not mention this, for reasons purely their
+own.
+
+“It’s the best party I ever attended in my life!” cried Boxy to Harry,
+as they passed each other in the hall. “Beats a stiff town party all to
+bits!” And Harry agreed with him.
+
+It was after five o’clock when some one suggested that they break up.
+Then clock and watches were consulted, and a raid was made on the
+closets where hats, bonnets, overcoats and tippets were stored. Fifteen
+minutes later the sleighs were brought around, good-bys were said, and
+off went the merry revelers, leaving the five boys to return to their
+camp in the early dawn, completely tired out, but happier than they had
+been for many a day.
+
+“I never expect to attend another party like it,” said Jack. “It is
+one of the brightest spots in the tour of the Zero Club, to my way of
+thinking.”
+
+“You are right, Jack. They treated us as if we were their warmest
+friends. It’s a pity city folks cannot do as well by their country
+cousins when they come to town.”
+
+After all that dancing and romping around, it was a weary walk back
+to the temporary camp, but finally it was finished, and, lighting a
+big fire of brushwood, they sat around it to rest. Andy and Boxy fell
+asleep, and the others dozed until nearly noon.
+
+“Now we will continue on our way up the lake front until we get away
+from the neighborhood of these farmhouses,” said Harry. “I don’t
+believe any one wants dinner.”
+
+“Not just yet for me!” groaned Boxy. “Last night filled me up as full
+as a tick.”
+
+“Ditto,” put in Andy. “Let us walk ourselves hungry first.”
+
+And so they set off on their skates up the lake, keeping as closely to
+the shore as the snowdrifts would permit.
+
+By sundown they calculated that they had covered six miles. They were
+now in a very wild neighborhood, full of rocks and cliffs and a heavy
+growth of timber.
+
+“This ought to be just the thing,” said Harry, as they turned in to
+shore and came to a halt. “There ought to be plenty of game back of
+that rocky ground.”
+
+“That is true,” said Jack. “What do you think, fellows, shall we look
+for a camping spot here?”
+
+They agreed that no better place could be found. Ten minutes later
+they were behind the shelter of a clump of bushes, and then Jack and
+Boxy went off to find a suitable location for a permanent camp for the
+balance of the outing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+THE BLACK BEAR.
+
+
+What Boxy and Jack thought would be a splendid shelter was found under
+a large, shelving series of rocks, nearly a hundred feet from the lake
+front. Here was an opening six feet wide by fifteen feet deep. The
+flooring was of smooth stone, covered with a great mass of leaves,
+which had been blown in by the wind. Of course, the snow had likewise
+entered, but this was soon cleaned out.
+
+“Now, all we will have to do is to re-cover the greater part of the
+front with brush, and it will make the warmest kind of a shelter,” said
+Jack.
+
+“And the best part of it all is that there is a crevice in the rear
+with a good upward draught,” said Boxy. “So we can build a fire inside
+our house, so to speak, which will be more pleasant than having it
+outside.”
+
+“No snakes, are there?” asked Andy, cautiously.
+
+“Not a one. We were careful to make a thorough search around.”
+
+“Then that’s the spot,” put in Harry, “and the sooner we get settled
+the better. It promises to be very cold to-night, and we want to be
+where we can keep warm.”
+
+The sled was dragged to the spot selected, and the ax gotten out. While
+two of the boys cleaned out the cave-like place, the others cut down
+poles and brush with which to shelter the front, and also collected
+wood for a fire.
+
+The draught inside toward the rear was perfect, and when a fire was
+started on a number of stones, it blazed up merrily without letting out
+any of the smoke into the cave proper.
+
+“This is fine!” cried Andy, as he sat down to rest in front of the
+blaze. “We ought to have had a place like this from the start.”
+
+“Unfortunately, we didn’t know there was this cave to occupy,” laughed
+Harry. “But I must confess I liked the hut.”
+
+“So did I,” said Jack. “It is only the change that pleases Andy.
+Nowadays in life, change is everything. We are constantly craving
+something new and different.”
+
+Before nightfall the poles were up in front of the opening and thickly
+entwined with brush. Only a small doorway was left, and this was closed
+at night by setting the sled over it. Soon the fire in the rear made
+the cave-like shelter as warm as toast, so that the boys took off their
+overcoats and gloves--something they had seldom done in the hut.
+
+Harry was right about it getting colder. After sunset the thermometer
+fell steadily. Pickles went down to the lake for a pail of water, and
+came back with his hands and ears half-frozen.
+
+“De coldest night yit, suah!” he exclaimed, as he knocked his feet
+against the rocks and slapped his hands over his chest to warm them.
+“We want lots ob firewood to-night, or we’ll all be froze stiff as
+pokers by moahnin’!”
+
+They were now hungry enough, and Jack set to work, while Pickles got
+extra wood, to cook a real stew of meat, potatoes and onions. The frost
+in the air made the concoction smell good, and when the stew was dealt
+out all ate their full portion.
+
+Being sleepy, they retired early, and every one slept like a “log”
+until long after sunrise.
+
+“By gracious, but it’s cold!” howled Boxy, the first to rise. “And the
+fire almost out! Pile on some wood, Pickles!”
+
+“I should say it was cold!” put in Andy, as he got up and stretched
+himself.
+
+“The coldest yet, without a doubt,” said Harry. “But stir up, all of
+you! We mustn’t expect summer weather at this time in the year.”
+
+Piping hot coffee soon warmed them up somewhat, and inside of half an
+hour they were arranging to go out on a hunt. It was resolved that they
+should leave the fire in first-class shape and all go together, that
+being so much nicer than dividing up.
+
+This plan was carried out, and before evening they had shot six
+rabbits, three partridges or grouse, and over a score of woodcock and
+other birds.
+
+“That’s sport and no error!” cried Boxy. “Now, if we can only get at
+some more deer to-morrow----”
+
+“Oh, you want the earth!” cried Andy. “Deer are not so plentiful as all
+that.”
+
+Nevertheless Boxy’s head was set on bringing down a deer, and the next
+day he went off with none but Pickles. The two were gone until dark,
+and, true enough, they came back with a small deer, which Pickles had
+wounded in the foreleg and Boxy had shot through the neck. On that
+same day the others shot half-a-dozen rabbits and partridge, and also
+brought down two silver-white foxes, which they resolved to take home
+to have stuffed.
+
+That night they had an unexpected experience which at first gave them a
+great scare. They were all seated near the fire relating their various
+experiences, when, without a warning, there came a crash from overhead
+that caused all of them to spring to their feet in alarm.
+
+“What’s that?” cried Boxy.
+
+“Evidently something is giving way!” exclaimed Jack.
+
+“Suah de roof’s comin’ down!” howled Pickles.
+
+“That sounds like it, certainly,” said Harry, who was the calmest of
+the crowd.
+
+“Rush for outside!” yelled Andy, as he made for the doorway.
+
+“Andy, come back!” called Jack, catching hold of him.
+
+“That’s all right, but I don’t want to get crushed,” retorted his
+younger brother.
+
+“Each of us had better stay here,” put in Harry. “The trouble is all
+outside of the cave.”
+
+“Might be better in the open air than here----” began Boxy.
+
+“Especially when the roof seems to be giving way,” added Andy.
+
+“Yes, but you can’t pass the doorway without peril,” returned Jack.
+
+“Either it is a snowslide or a landslide,” cried Harry. “Wait and
+listen!”
+
+“Rocks comin’ down sumwhar!” grumbled Pickles. “Oh, my!”
+
+Ro-o-u-m! crash! Down in front of the cave-like shelter came a perfect
+avalanche of snow and loose stones, completely filling the doorway and
+bending in the brush wall until the poles that held it in place gave
+way at the top.
+
+“Back, all of you!” shouted Harry, and they retreated just in time to
+prevent themselves from being completely buried.
+
+After the first slide came several others, and for the time being the
+boys were afraid they would be buried alive under the cliff. They
+waited with wildly beating hearts for fully quarter of an hour after
+the last fall, and then began an examination of the situation.
+
+The entire front of the shelter was blocked with snow and loose stones,
+which lay over it to the depth of eight or ten feet.
+
+“Now the question is, how are we to get out?” said Jack, in dismay. “We
+are caught like rats in a trap.”
+
+“We must dig our way out, and that quickly,” responded Harry. “We must
+have fresh air to breathe.”
+
+“Set to work with anything you can find!” cried Andy. “A bit of board,
+or a tin plate, or anything!”
+
+All hands went at the wall of snow and loose stones with a will. The
+stuff was thrown to one side of the cave, and while Harry and Jack
+threw it back the others packed it away.
+
+At the end of half an hour a passageway all of eight feet had been
+made, when suddenly Jack gave a shout:
+
+“Hurrah! I have struck an open place at last!”
+
+“Good!” returned Harry. “Now let us all get out and see how much damage
+has really been done.”
+
+The small opening Jack had found was enlarged with all possible haste,
+and then one after another the boys crawled out into the open air.
+
+It was found that the entire top portion of the cliff, loaded down with
+ice and snow, had given way, and was lying all along the bottom, a
+distance of fully fifty feet.
+
+“Well, there is one satisfaction,” remarked Boxy, as he gazed at the
+wreck. “If we clear this away we need not be in fear of another such
+slide, for the top of the cliff is now as bare as a bald man’s head.”
+
+“That’s so,” replied Harry. “Come, fellows, we must make that entrance
+larger and get the snow out of the cave before we can hope to retire
+for the night.”
+
+With improvised shovels and brooms they set to work to clear the snow
+and stones from in front of the shelter. It was hard work, but after
+such a scare they did not mind it. They were thankful that matters were
+not worse. Supposing the top of the cave had come down, what then? Most
+likely every one of them would have been killed.
+
+At last Jack declared they had done enough for that night.
+
+“We can finish up in the morning,” he said. “Let us start up the fire
+afresh and go to bed.”
+
+“I’m willing,” returned Andy. “My back is nearly broken from handling
+this home-made shovel.”
+
+The boys started to go back into the cave, when, suddenly, Pickles, who
+was looking up at the top of the cliff, let out an unearthly yell and
+clutched Harry’s arm convulsively.
+
+“Fo’ de sake ob goodness!”
+
+“What’s it, Pickles?” questioned Harry, quickly. “What has frightened
+you?”
+
+There was no need for the colored youth to answer. A loud growl rang in
+the ears of all the boys, and the next instant down from the top of the
+cliff leaped a big, brown bear into their very midst.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+END OF THE TOUR.
+
+
+It was quite likely that the big brown bear which had thrust itself
+among the members of the Zero Club so unceremoniously had had its
+winter habitation somewhere along the top of the cliff, and that the
+snow, ice and landslide had brought it forth to see the cause of the
+disturbance.
+
+Evidently, it imagined that the boys had brought about the ruin, for
+it was thoroughly enraged, and, as soon as it landed, stood up on its
+hind legs to embrace Harry, who happened to be a trifle closer than the
+others.
+
+Harry lost no time in leaping out of reach, and then the great bear
+turned upon Jack, almost knocking him down with a savage blow from one
+paw.
+
+“Run! run!” screamed Andy. “Run, Jack, or he will kill you!”
+
+With an effort, Jack regained his balance, and then he took Andy’s
+advice, as did indeed all of the others. They ran in every direction,
+and in less than half a minute the bear had the field entirely to
+himself.
+
+At first bruin appeared on the point of following them into the woods,
+but he stopped short and sniffed the air. The smell of the cooked meat
+in the cave reached him, and, turning, he disappeared inside of the
+shelter.
+
+“He has gone into the cave!” exclaimed Boxy to Harry, breathlessly.
+“Good-by to all our meat!”
+
+“If he only takes the meat and gets out I won’t care,” put in Andy.
+“My, but he nearly scared me out of my wits!”
+
+“I doan’ want nuffin’ to do wid dat chap,” remarked Pickles, with a
+grave shake of his woolly head. “He is wuss nor all de wolves an’
+wildcats put togedder, ’deed he is!”
+
+“Come on to where we can look into the cave,” said Harry, and they
+moved to another spot, where Jack presently joined them.
+
+“By the boots! but I had a narrow escape!” said Jack, with a shiver.
+“That crack from the bear’s paw nearly knocked me silly!”
+
+“What shall we do?” questioned Boxy, after a moment of silence.
+
+“I’d like to shoot him,” replied Harry. “What a prize he would make!”
+
+“Oh, my! I wouldn’t go near him for the world!” exclaimed Boxy.
+
+“Nor I!” added Andy. “Don’t try it, Harry! It will cost you your life!”
+
+“How are you going to kill him?” asked Jack. “Not a single one of us
+has a gun.”
+
+“Didn’t you have your gun out?” asked Harry, turning to Boxy.
+
+“I had the rifle out, but I--I dropped it when the bear leaped down,”
+stammered Boxy, in considerable confusion.
+
+“Where did you drop it?”
+
+“About three or four yards from the doorway to the cave.”
+
+“Humph! A fellow might crawl up and grab it,” mused Harry.
+
+“No! no! doan’ yo’ go fo’ to do nuffn’ so foolish!” cried Pickles. “Dat
+b’ar will come out an’ dat will be de end ob you!”
+
+“That’s so,” said Andy. “Let the bear satisfy himself and go off when
+he pleases.”
+
+“Ah, I have it!” cried Harry, an idea striking him. “Just stay where
+you are, fellows; I think I can do up his bearship in a way he won’t be
+looking for.”
+
+“What are you going to do?” questioned Boxy.
+
+“Wait and see.”
+
+On the instant Harry was off. Instead of walking toward the cave, he
+made a detour, coming up at one end of the high cliff.
+
+He found a place where he could ascend the icy slope without much
+difficulty, and this done, he crept along silently until he occupied a
+spot directly over the entrance to the shelter below.
+
+He looked about him, and soon found what he wanted, a round stone,
+weighing all of forty or fifty pounds.
+
+He half-rolled, half-carried the stone to the very edge of the cliff,
+and here set it so that a slight push would send it downward. Then he
+procured several more stones of smaller size.
+
+This done, he took up a handful of pebbles and rolled them over the
+cliff, at the same time shouting out loudly.
+
+The echo had hardly died away when the bear made its appearance at the
+mouth of the cave. He came out almost all of the way and looked around
+fiercely.
+
+Clatter! crash! down came the big stone, pushed off at just the right
+moment. It took the bear in the neck, and caused him to fall down with
+a loud roar of pain.
+
+In great excitement, Harry caught up two of the smaller stones. The
+first, when hurled downward, missed its mark; but the second caught the
+beast in the top of the head, directly over his right eye, inflicting
+an ugly wound.
+
+“Hurrah! you have knocked him!” cried Jack, from the woods. “Give him
+another!”
+
+“Get the rifle if you can!” sang out the boy on the cliff.
+
+“I will, if the bear will give me half a chance!” returned Jack.
+
+The bear now understood whence came the attack, and staggering to his
+feet, he looked around to find some way up the cliff. Harry continued
+to pour down the rocks, and one particularly sharp-pointed one landed
+on bruin’s nose.
+
+Up went another roar of pain, and the bear danced around, shaking his
+head from side to side in rage.
+
+“That was a corker!” yelled Boxy, somewhat recovering his courage.
+“Give him another, and--my gracious! He’s coming this way!”
+
+It was true. The bear had turned swiftly, and was now making for the
+woods where Boxy, Andy and Pickles were standing. Jack in the meantime
+had crawled to one side, waiting for a chance to dash in and secure
+the rifle.
+
+The three boys scrambled to get out of the way, and a second later Jack
+managed to gain possession of the much-coveted firearm.
+
+The bear went a dozen paces or more and then stopped and turned to the
+boy with the rifle. He rushed up and stood on his hind legs, and at
+that moment Jack pulled the trigger.
+
+The bullet passed through bruin’s shoulder, inflicting a dangerous but
+not fatal wound. The beast was now all but beaten, and yet there was
+lots of fight in him. Could he have reached one of the boys he would
+have killed him on the spot.
+
+Seeing the bear so far away from the cliff, Harry slid down to the
+bottom, and as Jack ran off, with bruin at his heels, he slipped into
+the cave, and brought out all of the shotguns, each of which was
+luckily loaded with coarse buckshot.
+
+As Jack ran in one direction, Harry took another, and soon joined Andy,
+Boxy and Pickles.
+
+“Come with me,” he said, as he dealt out the guns. “We can get the best
+of that bear now if we only half try. He’s limping dreadfully.”
+
+Off he dashed, and the others at his heels. They caught up to the bear
+at the instant that Jack yelled to them to come to his assistance.
+
+Bang! bang! went the shotguns in rapid succession. The four doses were
+too much for bruin. He uttered one growl, sharp and shrill, and then
+tumbled over--dead.
+
+At first the boys could not realize that their dreadful enemy was dead.
+They ran back to the cave to reload the rifle and the guns. But it was
+not needed, and after a wait of fully five minutes they went back to
+inspect their great prize.
+
+“Talk about wolves and wildcats and deer!” cried Harry, not without
+pardonable pride. “This caps the climax. Boys, I am done hunting now.”
+
+“And so am I,” returned Jack. “No more of life in the woods for this
+season.”
+
+“Yes, I jess as lief pull up an’ go back to Rudskill to-morrow,” broke
+in Pickles. “I couldn’t sleep out heah no moah if you paid me ten
+dollars an hour.”
+
+“We must have that bear stuffed,” said Jack. “And when we get a regular
+clubroom we’ll have him stand on one end of the platform as a memento
+of this glorious outing.”
+
+There was no sleep for any of the boys that night, and early in the
+morning they set to work to skin the bear as nicely as possible, so
+that it might be turned over to the taxidermist in Rudskill when they
+arrived home.
+
+Skinning the bear and getting ready to “pull up stakes” took the whole
+of the day, and despite their fears of more bears, they slept that
+night. By daybreak they were on their way across Rock Island Lake.
+
+Twenty-four hours later they reached Rudd’s Landing, where Barton Coils
+greeted them warmly. The old man was astonished at their success in the
+hunting line.
+
+A crowd of friends and curious strangers greeted them when the _Icicle_
+ran up to the town front of Rudskill and the boys left the iceboat; the
+bear skin and head were much admired, as were also the other trophies.
+
+“Had a good deal better luck than Sully and his crowd,” said one of the
+town boys, and the members of the Zero Club and Pickles rather guessed
+that they had.
+
+The boys were received at their various homes with open arms. It was
+found that Minnie Woodruff had quite recovered from the effects of her
+involuntary bath in the river, from which Harry had so bravely rescued
+her.
+
+The things the boys had brought back from the deserted cottage in the
+woods were sold before the winter was over. For his old coins Harry
+received nearly four hundred dollars, while his companions obtained for
+the other things from sixty to a hundred dollars each.
+
+This grand outing of the Zero Club took place several winters ago.
+Pickles has now a steady place in Mr. Woodruff’s employ, and the four
+boys are now in high school and college, and there we will leave them,
+trusting to meet them again in the near future, and in the meantime
+wishing them as much success as they had when braving perils by ice and
+snow.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
+
+
+  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
+
+  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
+
+  Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75342 ***